AIC

AIC director general Ian Sayers discusses how the investment trust industry has coped with the financial crisis and regulatory pressures

VCTs have invested almost £1bn in small companies between April 2004 and April 2009, according to a new survey from the AIC.

For investment trusts, 2009 has not been without its excitement. Volatile discounts have made life very difficult; the flight to quality was swiftly followed by the dash to trash as investors switched to more exotic investments

Among the many Christmas cards received by Investment Week this year, the common theme has revolved around we are, without doubt, living in interesting times.

The AIC has appointed Ian Sayers as director general after he held the role of acting head of the organisation since the departure of Daniel Godfrey at the end of July.

The investment trust industry has funded everything from the building of railways across the US to the development of South American economies in the 19th century.

The AIFM directive was drafted by the EU in response to what it saw as an absence of common regulatory standards for non-Ucits investment vehicles and there are six key issues that specifically affect the UK-listed closed-ended fund sector.

Henderson Global Investors and Gartmore were the two big winners in last night's annual Investment Week Investment Trust of the Year Awards.

The European Union is considering imposing tough new measures to curb the pay of private equity and hedge fund managers in a further clampdown on the sector.

Investment trusts were for many years the only way for individuals to gain access to a range of assets that would have been unattainable to the average investor.