The 10 highest-yielding equity investment trusts

Anyone on the hunt for juicy dividend yields in the investment trust space is likely to develop an opinion or two on “alternative” assets.  

The troubled renewable energy infrastructure sector dominates the list of high yielders, with NextEnergy Solar Ord (LSE:NESF) on an 18.3% dividend yield and SDCL Efficiency Income Trust plc. (LSE:SEIT) on 15.1%.  

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Plenty of other renewable funds trade on double-digit discounts, as do esoteric names such as debt trust Fair Oaks Income 2021 Ord (LSE:FAIR). 

As we’ve discussed before, the renewables sector in particular has plenty of gremlins, while alternative assets in general can prove unpredictable. 

Investors who want to keep things a bit simpler can still seek out some decent yields from equity trusts, which should also have at least some ability to increase dividends over time. 

Here, we examine 10 of the investment trusts with the highest yields (ignoring a couple of very small names) and their prospects. 

The list throws up some familiar names, and familiar markets, with Asian income and UK equity income cropping up. But we’ll first deal with those names investors might not have expected to see.

Source: Association of Investment Companies, 13 April 26.

First, there’s the beleaguered Lindsell Train Ord (LSE:LTI), which serves as a global vehicle for fans of Nick Train but also has a 20% allocation to the underlying investment manager. 

Serving almost as a levered bet on the fortunes of Nick Train’s investment approach, the trust’s shares have lost around 18% over one year – meaning the dividend is more a reflection of poor performance than a big focus on income.

Big positions include WS Lindsell Train North American Eq Acc, London Stock Exchange Group (LSE:LSEG), RELX (LSE:REL), Nintendo, and Unilever (LSE:ULVR). 

Elsewhere, some high yields come from potentially more reliable, if still unexpected, places. 

We noted earlier this year that UK funds with a focus on small and mid-cap shares were starting to punch above their weight in terms of income generation, and similarly here we see two UK smaller companies funds, Marwyn Value Investors Ord (LSE:MVI) and Montanaro UK Smaller Companies Ord (LSE:MTU), posting yields in excess of 6.5%. 

These are two extremely different beasts. The Marwyn team likes to “work in partnership with exceptional industry executives who bring long-standing industry experience and operational expertise” and take big positions in businesses.  

That’s evident from its extremely concentrated portfolio: Zegona Communications (LSE:ZEG) accounted for 30.1% of the fund at the end of 2025, with InvestAcc Group Ltd Ordinary Shares (LSE:INAC) on 24.5% and two other positions in the double digits. 

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The Montanaro fund, meanwhile, follows a quality growth investment style, has pretty moderate position sizes and lists XPS Pensions Group (LSE:XPS), IntegraFin Holdings (LSE:IHP) and Big Yellow Group (LSE:BYG) among its top holdings. The fund has an enhanced dividend policy, paying out a quarterly dividend equivalent to 1.5% of net asset value (NAV). 

Both funds have had a good 12 months, with Montanaro UK Smaller Companies shares returning 18.5% and Marwyn Value Investors shares a slightly jaw-dropping 38.5%. 

Asian income continues to stand out 

Asian equities continue to provide a great source of income, with Henderson Far East Income Ord (LSE:HFEL) still comfortably ahead of the others thanks to its roughly 10% yield. Another name, Aberdeen Asian Income Fund Limited (LSE:AAIF), sits in the list with a much lower but still very competitive 5.7% yield. 

Henderson Far East Income is a popular choice among investors, if a controversial one. 

It claims to give investors a “portfolio of value-orientated Asia Pacific equities with a focus on cash-flow generation from companies with the ability to sustain and grow dividends” and in practice has big allocations to South Korea on a 24.2% weighting, Hong Kong (20.5%) and Taiwan (12.3%), as well as Singapore (11.4%).  

The fund holds Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd ADR (NYSE:TSM) on a 5% weighting that is modest to that of some peers, while Korean high-flyers Samsung Electronics Co Ltd DR (LSE:SMSN) and SK Hynix sit in its top 10 holdings list alongside names such as Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd (SGX:O39) and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd ADR (NYSE:BABA). Financials make up around a third of the portfolio.

Source: FE Analytics, 13/04/26. Ordered by five-year returns. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

HFEL shares have delivered a robust 42.3% over a 12-month period as its market of choice has rebounded, but as the table shows it has generally tended to lag behind the competition. 

Often investors appear to have sacrificed better total returns elsewhere for the sake of the trust’s chunky dividend yield. 

To its credit, the fund is much less reliant on some of the top-performing shares of the region than some rivals, and by contrast Aberdeen Asian Income has a 13.6% allocation to TSMC and 9.7% in Samsung Electronics. The Aberdeen fund has big weightings to Taiwan, China and South Korea. 

More of the UK 

Returning to the UK, large-cap shares in particular have performed very well in the last year, with price gains pushing down yields.

That explains why the iShares Core FTSE 100 ETF GBP Dist (LSE:ISF) comes with a relatively modest 2.8% dividend yield for the last year. But some trusts still stand out on the yield front. 

First, there’s Chelverton UK Dividend Trust Ord (LSE:SDV), which serves as an income fund but has a focus on companies further down the market cap spectrum.

As such, its performance has at times been less than stellar in recent years, but bargain hunters might like its 7.5% yield. Top holdings include Chesnara (LSE:CSN), Hargreaves Services (LSE:HSP) and MTI Wireless Edge Ltd (LSE:MWE). 

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Aberdeen Equity Income Trust (LSE:AEI) has quite a diversified approach on the market cap front, with roughly half its portfolio in the FTSE 100, but another 39% in FTSE 250 shares, while Dunedin Income Growth Ord (LSE:DIG) and CT UK High Income Ord (LSE:CHI) seem largely focused on blue chips. 

Dunedin Income Growth last year adopted an enhanced dividend policy, committing to paying out a minimum of 6% of NAV, with this funded from both income and capital. 

The way UK income trusts generate dividends could become more of a dividing line in future.  

Temple Bar Ord (LSE:TMPL) has also adopted an enhanced dividend policy, for example, while names such as City of London Ord (LSE:CTY) remain committed to generating a growing income via company dividends. 

The fact that UK companies have sometimes focused on share buybacks at the expense of dividends in recent years could make life tougher for those taking the second route.