The Lemon Fool

I have dipped my toe back into Investment Trusts this morning, shame about todays price rise but I made my decision the other day so stuck with it. Todays purchases were -

- RIT Capital Partners on a 26% discount
- Caledonia on a 40% discount
- AVI Global Trust on 11% discount and
- Saints on a 9% discount.

I was not particularly chasing discounts but all of these seemed a reasonable price. I was looking for less US exposure when compared to a global tracker. I'd appreciate any thoughts.

Monty
ps. It was hard to stomach the stamp duty fee after becomming used to ETF's and their much cheaper costs.

Monty wrote:I have dipped my toe back into Investment Trusts this morning, shame about todays price rise but I made my decision the other day so stuck with it. Todays purchases were -

- RIT Capital Partners on a 26% discount
- Caledonia on a 40% discount
- AVI Global Trust on 11% discount and
- Saints on a 9% discount.

I was not particularly chasing discounts but all of these seemed a reasonable price. I was looking for less US exposure when compared to a global tracker. I'd appreciate any thoughts.

Monty
ps. It was hard to stomach the stamp duty fee after becomming used to ETF's and their much cheaper costs.

Personally I think all four are good buys for long term capital gains. I hold Caledonia and RIT

Dod

Monty wrote:I have dipped my toe back into Investment Trusts this morning, shame about todays price rise but I made my decision the other day so stuck with it. Todays purchases were -

- RIT Capital Partners on a 26% discount
- Caledonia on a 40% discount
- AVI Global Trust on 11% discount and
- Saints on a 9% discount.

I was not particularly chasing discounts but all of these seemed a reasonable price. I was looking for less US exposure when compared to a global tracker. I'd appreciate any thoughts.

Monty
ps. It was hard to stomach the stamp duty fee after becomming used to ETF's and their much cheaper costs.

Well, you are certainly getting them at good discounts, something you wouldn't get with ETF's. And I think you would struggle to get access to the sorts of stocks that those IT's hold, through ETF's.

Of the above, I only hold SAIN.

richfool wrote:

Monty wrote:It was hard to stomach the stamp duty fee after becomming used to ETF's and their much cheaper costs.

Well, you are certainly getting them at good discounts, something you wouldn't get with ETF's. And I think you would struggle to get access to the sorts of stocks that those IT's hold, through ETF's.

The stamp duty still hurts though, especially with large purchases. Last year I made two £50,000 purchases. One in an IT and one in an ETF.

The IT contract note came with a £250 tax.

ITs typically have higher running costs and AMCs as well.

Perhaps look at JGGI as well. Perfomed better than SAIN but may not suit as almost two thirds USA content.


Arb.

Arborbridge wrote:Perhaps look at JGGI as well. Perfomed better than SAIN but may not suit as almost two thirds USA content.

I hold JGGI as well and it has done well. Note however that a neutral weighting for a global fund is 63.5% in North America, so JGGI is only slightly over-weight there. And of course it is the US exposure that has juiced its performance, presumably from the same team who have done so well with JAM. I would also attribute its returns to not having to limit itself to HY shares, as that big dividend is partly paid from capital.

Lootman wrote:

Arborbridge wrote:Perhaps look at JGGI as well. Perfomed better than SAIN but may not suit as almost two thirds USA content.

I hold JGGI as well and it has done well. Note however that a neutral weighting for a global fund is 63.5% in North America, so JGGI is only slightly over-weight there. And of course it is the US exposure that has juiced its performance, presumably from the same team who have done so well with JAM. I would also attribute its returns to not having to limit itself to HY shares, as that big dividend is partly paid from capital.

I've been leaning towards more global funds for a year or so, realising I have too much in the UK - with half my investments in HYP. SAIN could be a good extra for me with some cash I have just released from a UK company OIEC I ditched.

Against this is the desire not to go stamp collecting any more than necessary. Each stamp means at least some extra effort in maintenance if I carry on in my usual way!

Arb.

Arborbridge wrote:I've been leaning towards more global funds for a year or so, realising I have too much in the UK - with half my investments in HYP. SAIN could be a good extra for me with some cash I have just released from a UK company OIEC I ditched.

With similar thinking, my ISAs are mostly HYP, I accumulated my pensions all together in a SIPP and decided to be ex UK for all the investments, I chose etfs but ITs would go that way too. Some of my HYPs are global like BATS and Shell but diversification away from the UK was the global diversification was objective. Vanguard do region specific ETFs including Europe ex-UK, add in USA, Asia (comes in ex-japan flavour), emerging markets, japan pick your weightings. Murray International is my global IT.

Monty wrote:I have dipped my toe back into Investment Trusts this morning, shame about todays price rise but I made my decision the other day so stuck with it. Todays purchases were -

- RIT Capital Partners on a 26% discount
- Caledonia on a 40% discount
- AVI Global Trust on 11% discount and
- Saints on a 9% discount.

5 year total return percentages on your choices plus Vanguard Developed World ETF

I hold Saints plus Vanguard Developed World ETF
Data from Hargreaves Lansdown