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How The Best Investment Trusts Performed in Q1 2025

UK large-caps and Europe markets provided strong returns for some trusts.

Sunniva Kolostyak 4 April, 2025 | 8:47AM
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Ilustración de las calificaciones de los fondos medallistas

In a volatile quarter for global markets, only eight of the 28 UK-listed investment trusts with a Morningstar Medalist Rating have grown over the first quarter of 2025 while the other 20 are all down. The top performer by asset value, City of London Investment Trust CTY, rose 7.90% over the period. This is also the only trust under coverage where the share price is trading at a premium to its net asset value (NAV), by 0.98%.

Bottom performer Polar Capital Technology Trust PCT lost 16.36% and its current share price is 11.47% below its NAV.

As seen in the overall review of investment trust performance, UK large-caps and Europe markets provided strong returns for some trusts. At the other end, technology and UK small-caps dragged trusts down.

The Best Performing Morningstar-Rated Investment Trusts

The City of London Investment Trust CTY


The £2.2 billion City of London Investment Trust rose 7.9% over the past three months. It beat its benchmark, the Morningstar UK All Cap Target Market Exposure Index, by 2.74 percentage points. Over the past year, the Janus Henderson-managed trust rose 14.91%. Over the past five years, it has climbed 12.99%.

Fidelity European Trust FEV


The £1.6 billion Fidelity European Trust rose 7.88% over the past three months. The trust performed roughly in line with its benchmark, the Morningstar Developed Europe ex-UK Target Market Exposure Index. Over the past year, the Fidelity International trust fell 0.77% while over the past five years, it has climbed 13.78%.

Henderson European Trust HET


The £615.4 million Henderson European Trust rose 4.82% over the past three months, and lagged its benchmark, the Morningstar Developed Europe ex-UK Target Market Exposure Index, by 2.91 percentage points. Over the past year, the Janus Henderson trust fell 1.29%. Over the past five years, the vehicle has climbed 14.15%.

STS Global Income & Growth Trust STS


The £290.4 million STS Global Income & Growth Trust PLC rose 3.15% over the past three months, beating its benchmark, the Morningstar Global Markets High Dividend Yield Index, by 2.42 percentage points. Over the past year, the Troy Asset Management managed investment company rose 9.69%. Over the past five years, it has climbed 11.54%.

Personal Assets Trust PNL


The £1.6 billion Personal Assets Trust rose 2.15% over the past three months. The fund beat its benchmark, the Morningstar UK Moderate Target Allocation NR Index, by 2.26 percentage points. Over the past year, the Troy Asset Management fund rose 6.49%. Over the past five years, the fund has climbed 5.98%.

The Worst Performing Morningstar Rated Trusts

Polar Capital Technology Trust PCT


The £3.8 billion Polar Capital Technology Trust fell 16.36% over the past three months. The fund fell further than its benchmark, the Morningstar Global Technology Target Market Exposure Index, by 2.78 percentage points. Over the past year, the Polar Capital fund fell 2.0%. Over the past five years, the fund has climbed 16.11%.

BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust BRSC


The £562.8 million BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust fell 10.91% over the past three months. The fund fell further than its benchmark, the Morningstar UK Small Cap Target Market Exposure Index, by 7.25 percentage points. Over the past year, the BlackRock fund fell 8.58%. Over the past five years, the fund has climbed 5.07%.

JPMorgan American Investment Trust JAM


The £1.8 billion JPMorgan American Investment Trust fell 8.74% over the past three months. The fund fell further than its benchmark, the Morningstar US Large-Mid Cap Index, by 1.28 percentage points. Over the past year, the JPMorgan fund rose 4.33%. Over the past five years, the fund has climbed 21.32%.

Pacific Assets Trust PAC


The £458 million Pacific Assets Trust fell 8.5% over the past three months. The fund fell further than its benchmark, the Morningstar Asia ex-Japan Target Market Exposure Index, by 6.9 percentage points. Over the past year, the Stewart Investors fund fell 2.82%. Over the past five years, the fund has climbed 11.12%.

abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust AUSC


The £330.8 million abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust PLC fell 7.48% over the past three months. The fund fell further than its benchmark, the Morningstar UK Small Cap Target Market Exposure Index, by 3.82 percentage points. Over the past year, the abrdn fund rose 0.89%. Over the past five years, the fund has climbed 4.89%.

Methodology for UK Investment Trust Returns

There are two main ways of calculating investment trust performance. Firstly, as investment trusts are listed companies with real-time pricing, it’s easy to see the daily share price performance online. Another way is to look at the net asset value (NAV), which is the value of the trust’s underlying assets. Most trusts under Morningstar coverage trade at a “discount” to NAV.

For example, the top performer in NAV terms was The City of London Investment Trust, with a gain of over 7%. In share price terms alone though, the trust is only up around 3.5%, a much more moderate return for the theoretical investor who bought shares on January 2 and held them until March 31.

The return tables use total Morningstar Direct data for net asset value. Morningstar’s calculation of total return is determined each month by taking the change in monthly net asset value, reinvesting all income and capital-gains distributions during that month, and dividing by the starting NAV.


This article was generated with the help of automation and reviewed by Morningstar editors. Learn more about Morningstar’s use of automation.

The author or authors do not own shares in any securities mentioned in this article. Find out about Morningstar's editorial policies.

The information contained within is for educational and informational purposes ONLY. It is not intended nor should it be considered an invitation or inducement to buy or sell a security or securities noted within nor should it be viewed as a communication intended to persuade or incite you to buy or sell security or securities noted within. Any commentary provided is the opinion of the author and should not be considered a personalised recommendation. The information contained within should not be a person's sole basis for making an investment decision. Please contact your financial professional before making an investment decision.

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About Author

Sunniva Kolostyak

Sunniva Kolostyak  is senior data journalist for Morningstar.co.uk

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