Global trusts need to innovate to survive

Global Investment Trusts must continue to adapt by cutting costs or becoming more specialist as the cheaper alternatives market comes to the fore, leading managers have said.

A number of trusts have been subject to wind-ups in the past year while others have faced calls for change and both Jeremy Tigue at F&C and Andrew Bell at Witan have warned trusts have to differentiate themselves to compete. Both Tigue and Bell agree trusts have to work harder than ever to deliver performance with the advent of ETFs and investor appetite shifting towards specialist trusts. Last week Tigue’s £2.1bn Foreign & Colonial Investment trust opted to remove its performance fee and the manager believes other global investment trusts need to follow suit to compete with ETFs. ...