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City of London Tops List of Best-Performing UK Investment Trusts

Gold-rated trust is the only Morningstar-rated fund to be 10% higher so far this year.

Sunniva Kolostyak 14 May, 2025 | 9:18AM
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City of London Investment Trust CTY and Fidelity European FEV are the best two performing trusts rated by Morningstar analysts in 2025 so far. Meanwhile, Polar Capital Technology PCT and JPMorgan American JAM are the two with the biggest losses.

The best performer, City of London, is also the only one among all 27 that is trading at a premium to the net asset value. The trust’s manager, Job Curtis, is the longest-serving fund manager in the UK and has been in charge for more than 33 years. And the trust is also an AIC “dividend hero”, having increased its dividend for 58 years.

The UK equity income trust’s fourth biggest holding is BAE Systems BA., which is up 48% this year. Its biggest holding, HSBC HSBA, is up 12% this year.

The rest of the rated trusts are all trading at a discount, and eight of these have a discount of more than 10%. Baillie Gifford Japan BGFD has the biggest discount among the trusts, with its share price trading 11.97% below NAV. The trust has struggled to reach its previous share price highs in late 2020, fighting growth style headwinds.

The fund with the biggest loss this year, Polar Capital Technology, holds 9% of its assets in Nvidia NVDA and 4% in Apple AAPL, both down double digits in 2025.

The UK’s largest trust, the £12 billion Scottish Mortgage SMT, sits comfortably in the middle of the table this year, down 0.35% in 2025. The trust, which invests in global growth stocks, took a significant hit in April on the tariff news. However, it has managed to recover significant grounds over the past month.

This is how the best and worst performing rated trusts are performing in the shorter and longer term.

For a full review of the performance of all investment trusts and market challenges, read our previous article.

The Best Performing Morningstar-Rated Trusts in 2025 So Far

The City of London Investment Trust Plc CTY


The £2.2 billion The City of London rose 13.82% over the past month. The fund beat its benchmark, the Morningstar UK All Cap Target Market Exposure Index, by 1.52 percentage points. Year to date, the Janus Henderson-managed trust rose 10.83%. Over the past five years, the fund has climbed 12.16%.

Fidelity European Trust PLC FEV


The £1.7 billion Fidelity European rose 11.99% over the past month. The fund lagged its benchmark, the Morningstar Developed Europe ex-UK Target Market Exposure Index, by 0.89 percentage points. Year to date, the Fidelity International fund rose 9.42%. Over the past five years, the fund has climbed 12.86%.

Henderson European Trust PLC HET


The £626.2 million Henderson European rose 13.37% over the past month. The fund performed roughly in line with its benchmark, the Morningstar Developed Europe ex-UK Target Market Exposure Index. Year to date, the Janus Henderson fund rose 6.78%. Over the past five years, the fund has climbed 12.82%.

Fidelity Special Values PLC FSV


The £1.1 billion Fidelity Special Values rose 15.47% over the past month. The fund beat its benchmark, the Morningstar UK All Cap Target Market Exposure Index, by 3.17 percentage points. Year to date, the Fidelity International fund rose 6.43%. Over the past five years, the fund has climbed 18.04%.

TR Property Investment Trust TRY


The £1.1 billion TR Property Investment Trust rose 14.49% over the past month. The fund performed roughly in line with its benchmark, the Morningstar Developed Markets Europe Real Estate Index. Year to date, the Columbia Threadneedle fund rose 6.13%. Over the past five years, the fund has climbed 3.15%.

The Worst Performing Morningstar-Rated Trusts in 2025 So Far

Polar Capital Technology Trust PCT


The £4 billion Polar Capital Technology Trust rose 5.66% over the past month. The fund beat its benchmark, the Morningstar Global Technology Index, by 0.85 percentage points. Year to date, the Polar Capital fund fell 11.45%. Over the past five years, the fund has climbed 13.68%.

JPMorgan American Investment Trust JAM


The £1.8 billion JPMorgan American Investment Trust rose 0.41% over the past month. The fund beat its benchmark, the Morningstar US Large-Mid Cap Index, by 0.66 percentage points. Year to date, the JPMorgan fund fell 9.48%. Over the past five years, the fund has climbed 17.39%.

Pacific Assets Trust PAC


The £458.8 million Pacific Assets Trust rose 10.42% over the past month. The fund performed roughly in line with its benchmark, the Morningstar Asia ex-Japan Target Market Exposure Index. Year to date, the Stewart Investors fund fell 8.0%. Over the past five years, the fund has climbed 9.59%.

Mid Wynd International Investment Trust PLC Fund MWY


The £316.7 million Mid Wynd International Investment Trust rose 5.77% over the past month. The fund beat its benchmark, the Morningstar Global Growth Target Market Exposure Index, by 1.03 percentage points. Year to date, the Lazard fund fell 6.61%. Over the past five years, the fund has climbed 7.15%.

Monks Investment Trust Plc MNKS


The £2.4 billion Monks rose 5.34% over the past month. The fund beat its benchmark, the Morningstar Global Growth Target Market Exposure Index, by 0.6 percentage points. Year to date, the Baillie Gifford fund fell 5.48%. Over the past five years, the fund has climbed 7.57%.

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, Polar Capital Technology has a five-year annualized NAV return of 14.65%. In share price terms alone, however, the trust grew slightly less per year, at 11.26%, providing a slimmer return for the theoretical investor who bought shares five years ago.

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. We have also excluded trusts without a disclosed fund size.


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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