A warrant by any other name

Despite being considered out of fashion, investment trust warrants are back, but in the slightly different guise of subscription shares

The fact that there were only 30 investment trust warrants in issue last year, compared to 135 in back in 1998, according to figures from IFA Bestinvest, tells its own story. But it does not give the full picture. Yes, warrants had been going out of fashion; but now they may be making a comeback, albeit in a slightly different guise. As Simon Moore, senior research analyst at Bestinvest, puts it: “Historically investment trust warrants were issued when the trust was first launched – given to investors for free. The warrants traded on day one at a price higher than nil and so were supp...