Fund news & updates

7 November 2025

Passive investing has grown in popularity in recent years due to its strong performance, ease in diversification and (typically) lower fees than active options.

These funds track a specific stock index, such as the FTSE 100 or S&P 500. You can usually choose to invest in passive funds either through an exchange-traded fund (ETF) or a more...

7 November 2025

Most of the time when you buy an exchange traded fund (ETF), you're just looking to match the return from a particular part of the market. They are a type of tracker fund which, as their name suggests, trade on a stock exchange and seek to mirror the returns from a certain index.

Sounds simple and, in practice it usually is, but it’s still...

15 October 2025

Over the past 12 months, AJ Bell has seen a sharp increase in its DIY investor customers buying global funds that deliberately exclude US assets, albeit from a small base.

We looked at a sample of products with this investment focus and found a notable uptick in both the number of customers holding them and the amount of money invested. The biggest...

2 October 2025

In the battle of the manager versus the machine, humans have been punching above their weight with UK funds so far this year. In both the UK All Companies and UK Equity Income categories, the top 10 performers were dominated by actively managed funds.

Fund managers will be jumping for joy given the active fund industry has faced growing criticism...

1 October 2025

We have added the FSSA Asia Focus fund to our Favourite funds because of its disciplined investment approach, which has been honed over the years by the fund’s experienced team head, Martin Lau. Martin began his investment career nearly three decades ago when he joined, what was then, First State Investments in 2002, learning under the tutelage of...

22 August 2025

We have removed the Stewart Investors Asia Pacific Leaders and Stewart Investors Worldwide All Cap funds from our Favourite funds list following the departure of portfolio managers David Gait and Sashi Reddy, as well as Sujaya Desai, a third member of the team. The departures deprive the team of its most experienced investors in David and Sashi...

31 July 2025

It looks like Donald Trump has done what years of toil and sweat have failed to achieve, namely some measure of outperformance from global active funds.

In the first half of 2025, 51% of active funds in the Global sector outperformed a passive alternative. That’s according to our latest Manager versus Machine report, which analyses over 1,000 funds...

24 July 2025

Certain investments have a particular advantage over cash in the bank and that’s the ability to provide a growing income stream.

Cash savings rates are often fixed which means your money won’t buy as much if the cost of living goes up. If your dividends go up each year it means you can potentially beat the rate of inflation, and your money goes...

17 July 2025

Investments can be someone’s main source of income once they retire, swapping a salary for dividends to pay the bills. This reliance on a pension emphasises the importance of having a good spread of income-generating investments.

There’s lots to choose from, and your selection will depend on your risk appetite and time horizon, among other factors...

17 July 2025

In the past few years, the ‘star’ in star fund managers has diminished somewhat. Many asset management companies have preferred to focus on the strategy and team behind an actively managed fund, rather than riding on the coattails of a standout individual. But that’s not to say there are no longer star managers, or indeed rising stars, within the...

25 June 2025

The number of London-listed investment trusts trading at a premium to the underlying value of their assets has moved higher this year as investors show greater willingness to pay up for certain strategies.

There are currently 24 investment trusts trading at a premium to net asset value, up from 19 at this time last year but still some way off...

24 June 2025

A £175 million bid for Downing Renewables & Infrastructure represents the 10th investment trust to receive a takeover offer this year – and several more have been the target of bidding wars.

With so many trusts trading well below the underlying value of their portfolio, it’s feasible to suggest takeover action will continue for the rest of the year...

13 June 2025

Some investment trusts are trading at bigger discounts than usual, with the average discount sitting at 14%, according to the AIC. But some trusts trade at discounts of more than 50% - we reveal the trusts on a bigger than normal discount.

A total of 26 investment trusts trade on a discount that is more than five percentage points greater than...

23 April 2025

The idea of your investment trading on a ‘discount’ is not necessarily a phrase that instils confidence. But in the world of investment trusts, it’s a regular occurrence.

In fact, the average Global Equity investment trust currently trades on a 7.1% discount, according to Winterflood. And this doesn’t mean that your investment is losing money. So...

22 April 2025

We’re always reviewing our Favourite funds list to make sure we’re confident in our picks, and ready to make changes if needed. Following a recent review, we’ve made a couple of updates – adding the Rathbone Ethical Bond fund and removing the CT Responsible Sterling Corporate Bond fund.

We’ve added the Rathbone Ethical Bond fund as we think it’s a...