Discount Delver: the 10 cheapest trusts on 18 September 2026

Investment trusts offer a potential bargain thanks to their closed-ended structure.   

That happens when a trust’s share price is lower than the value of its underlying investments (the net asset value, or NAV).           

However, a trust trading on a discount to NAV is not necessarily a buying opportunity.   

There’s likely a good reason why the trust is cheap, such as subdued short- or long-term performance, or poor investor sentiment towards it.          

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In this weekly series, interactive investor highlights the 10 biggest investment trust discount moves over the past week.        

In total, nearly 400 investment trusts have been screened, with the data sourced from Morningstar.   

Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) have been excluded. We also strip out trusts with less than £30 million in assets and those that are not available on the interactive investor platform. 

Performance problems 

As we note each week, there can often be a good reason that a trust’s shares are going “cheap” – be that poor performance, weak investor sentiment toward a given fund or limited liquidity. 

That appears to be the case for some names in this week’s table. Take CT UK High Income Ord (LSE:CHI), whose discount has advanced to around the 7% mark. 

Shareholders in the trust have enjoyed a roughly 4% total return so far this year, but that puts it behind every fund in its AIC sector, bar Finsbury Growth & Income Ord (LSE:FGT). 

Pedestrian returns and a lack of substantial scale might explain why the trust appears fairly regularly in this series. 

We also have another showing from VietNam Holding Ord (LSE:VNH), whose shareholders are down to the tune of around 15% for the year to date, plus an appearance from Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Holdings Ord (LSE:PSH), which has also struggled in 2026. 

If Pershing Square languishes on a hefty discount its manager has also been bargain hunting this year. 

Quality on the cheap? 

If some names in the list have had their share of performance woes, others have had a better showing. 

The niche BlackRock Frontiers Ord (LSE:BRFI) has had a good few years, while commodities play BlackRock Energy and Resources Income (LSE:BERI) has also performed well. 

As we often see there are some small-cap funds in the list, in the form of the UK-focused Onward Opportunities Ltd (LSE:ONWD) and, elsewhere, The European Smaller Companies Trust PLC (LSE:ESCT).  

There’s also an appearance from property trust Phoenix Spree Deutschland Ord (LSE:PSDL), which is looking to sell its assets and return capital to shareholders. 

Discount moves have mainly been fairly modest in the last week – perhaps reflecting the fact that the names in the list have not seen any substantial updates.