Certain investments trusts performed remarkably well in Q1 2012, with many of them achieving returns that outperformed the average and their peers in the ETF and open-end fund categories.
Rather than look at the investment trust sector as one big collection of funds, we at Morningstar like to break it down by investment style, using our Morningstar categories, which are based on holdings. This means we can compare each fund with its true peer group: our categories are comprised not just of investment trusts, but open-end funds and ETFs too.
Global Large-Cap Blend
Nearly half of the investment trusts in this category beat the Morningstar category average fund’s return over the last three months. The best performer was Law Debenture (LWDB), which was more than four percentage points ahead of the average fund. F&C Managed Portfolio Growth (FMPG), Witan (WTAN) and Brunner (BUT) also performed well, and were hot on the heels of Law Debenture.
Global Large-Cap Growth
All three investment trusts in this category beat the average open-end fund. Monks (MNKS) gained a few basis points more than the average, while both Scottish Mortgage (SMT) and Edinburgh WorldWide (EWI) beat the average by roughly 8% each.
Global Emerging Markets
JP Morgan Global Emerging Markets Income (JEMI) and BlackRock Frontiers (BRFI) led the charge in the first three months of this year, beating the category average fund by more than 3.5% and 2.5%, respectively. At the other end of the spectrum, Ashmore Global Opportunities (AGOL) barely made money over the quarter.
Asia ex-Japan
After some rocky performance, Henderson Asian Growth (HAGT) had an excellent quarter, gaining nearly 8% more than the average category fund. In fact, just one investment trust failed to beat the category over the three-month period: JP Morgan Asian (JAI). New management has been in place at this fund since the start of 2012.
Asia-Pacific ex-Japan
It was a fantastic quarter for smaller companies with Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies (AAS) rising more than twice the level of the average fund in the category, with gains of nearly 19%. Meanwhile, Henderson Far East Income (HFEL) was the only investment trust to lag the average fund.
UK Large-Cap Blend
In the UK, it was a much less impressive story for investment trusts that focus on large-cap investments. Only a handful outperformed the category average fund, which rose by 7.6%. UK Select Trust (UKT) and Schroder UK Growth (SDU) both made double-digit gains, but the majority lagged far behind. In fact, Manchester & London (MNL) lost nearly a full percent over the three months.
UK Small-Cap
Investment trusts in this category posted a wide range of returns over the quarter, but the average category fund gained nearly 14.5%. The sector was split fairly equally between those that outperformed and those that underperformed. Topping the board was Aberforth Smaller Companies (ASL), with gains of more than 25%, while Henderson Smaller Companies (HSL) and Henderson Fledgling Trust (HFT) rose by roughly 19%. Contrast this with Gresham House (GHE) which rose by just 2%.
Please keep in mind that while it's always interesting to track short-term performance, Morningstar encourages investors to look at a longer time-period when making investment decisions.