Breathing new life into investment trusts

The recent Budget certainly made headlines for a lot of the wrong reasons. Buried within the small p...

The recent Budget certainly made headlines for a lot of the wrong reasons. Buried within the small print, however, are proposed changes that may have a significant impact on the UK onshore investment trust sector. Under current UK legislation, fixed income assets have not had a huge place within onshore investment trusts. This is due to UK tax law, which disadvantages investment trusts versus their open-ended equivalents. Simply put, interest income earned by an investment trust is liable for corporation tax, whereas 'franked' dividends paid by UK companies are not, a situation not shared...