Investment companies whose reign matches the Queen's.
SPTR 10yr % to 31/01/22
SPTR 20yr % to 31/01/22
SPTR 30yr % to 31/01/22
Total assets £m to 31/01/22
19 Mar 1868
F&C Investment Trust
Global
258.36
484.29
1,631.90
5,546.40
14 Nov 1868
Investment Company
Flexible Investment
115.51
145.32
1,870.61
16.67
01 Feb 1873
Dunedin Income Growth
UK Equity Income
139.30
275.28
989.61
506.97
31 Mar 1873
Scottish American
Global Equity Income
235.03
473.88
1,145.51
979.60
18 Jun 1881
JPMorgan American
North America
363.31
510.76
2,581.32
1,561.47
08 Dec 1884
Mercantile
UK All Companies
247.04
704.26
2,537.64
2,541.76
21 Apr 1887
JPMorgan Global Growth & Income
294.46
594.83
2,014.65
769.33
16 Dec 1887
Henderson Smaller Companies
UK Smaller Companies
407.19
828.65
1,253.67
1,034.96
13 Apr 1888
Bankers
273.90
552.70
1,966.10
1,668.69
21 Apr 1888
Alliance Trust
244.98
443.88
1,396.90
3,628.90
15 Feb 1889
BMO Global Smaller Companies
Global Smaller Companies
216.27
917.92
2,414.52
1,027.79
16 Feb 1889
Merchants
169.10
332.51
1,203.13
832.02
01 Mar 1889
Edinburgh Investment
103.94
278.45
789.91
1,319.04
01 July 1889
AVI Global
189.36
676.53
3,090.51
1,252.76
12 Dec 1889
Law Debenture Corporation
234.53
586.50
2,250.20
1,176.05
01 Jan 1891
City of London
119.20
323.16
1,142.20
1,955.47
05 Jan 1898
Aberdeen Diversified Income & Growth
40.59
101.19
428.29
395.30
05 May 1905
TR Property
Property Securities
343.79
1,431.39
4,933.26
1,890.48
02 May 1906
BlackRock Smaller Companies
375.91
1,425.40
3,442.70
1,072.96
24 Jan 1907
Baillie Gifford China Growth
China / Greater China
113.52
370.63
454.61
225.81
18 Dec 1907
Murray International
93.57
573.96
1,488.72
1,768.85
17 Feb 1909
Witan
255.37
405.14
1,427.19
2,125.92
17 Mar 1909
Scottish Mortgage
800.11
1,996.68
5,985.41
17,775.60
01 Jan 1912
Hansa Investment Company (A share)
42.28
356.36
2,062.39
369.09
Hansa Investment Company (Ord)
48.44
345.45
1,954.37
07 Jun 1923
Murray Income
115.77
318.87
1,133.68
1,213.74
15 Jan 1926
Finsbury Growth & Income
219.86
750.96
2,318.77
2,056.20
24 Jun 1926
Temple Bar
100.45
350.95
1,591.46
908.22
01 Jan 1927
Brunner
259.30
422.30
1,372.28
527.32
02 Aug 1927
JPMorgan Japanese
Japan
274.98
291.13
323.47
1,026.75
06 Feb 1929
Monks
282.36
612.47
2,163.12
3,000.98
15 Mar 1929
JPMorgan European Growth
Europe
217.44
386.92
1,377.47
325.89
31 Mar 1929
Shires Income
145.07
201.28
698.40
105.05
15 Jan 1930
Canadian General Investments
257.26
923.56
4,612.11
1,344.61
30 May 1930
Henderson Far East Income
Asia Pacific Equity Income
85.98
571.29
1,637.03
456.13
01 January 1947
Henderson European Focus
273.03
604.51
3,172.89
363.83
As the UK prepares to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee on Sunday 6 February, figures from the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) demonstrate that almost a quarter of investment companies by assets (£63 billion) were in existence at the time of the Queen’s accession to the throne some 70 years ago (see table of companies below). In fact, many investment companies have been around since the late nineteenth century and continue to thrive, demonstrating the sector’s durability.
Annabel Brodie-Smith, Communications Director, Association of Investment Companies (AIC), said: “It’s a testament to the investment company sector that 35 companies were around at the time of the Queen’s accession to the throne and are still delivering excellent long-term performance to shareholders.
“It’s reassuring for investors to see that over the last 70 years, investment companies have survived bouts of market turbulence including the 1973 to 74 crash, Black Monday in 1987, the dot-com boom and bust, the financial crisis and the pandemic. Since the first investment company launched in 1868, the industry has weathered two World Wars and the Great Depression.
“Investment companies have pioneered investing in a wide range of assets including emerging markets, renewable energy infrastructure and unquoted companies. They also have unique income advantages and the benefit of an independent board of directors to look after shareholders’ interests, qualities that stand them in good stead for the future.”
John Newlands, Founder of Newlands Fund Research and Investment Trust Historian, said: “Fads, fashions and arcane financial schemes have come and gone over the past 70 years and more – everything from precipice bonds to sub-prime mortgages to the bursting of the internet bubble 20 years ago. Investment companies have long been founded on stronger, indeed granite-like foundations, their robustness tracing to the geniuses who devised and launched them almost 150 years ago, including the legal giants Philip Rose and Lord Westbury and, north of the Scottish border, Robert Fleming, son of an impoverished mill worker in Dundee.
“Private investors, whether wealthy or of ‘moderate means’ should look no further than the most platinum investment opportunity of them all, namely the opportunity to place their savings in a spread of quality investment companies.”
Source: AIC/Morningstar. All performance data is share price total return (SPTR) to 31 January 2022.
