Discount Delver: the 10 cheapest trusts on 25 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. 

A big question mark the global stock market is grappling with is whether the scale of capital expenditure on artificial intelligence (AI) advancements is going to lead to the future earnings growth and profits that investors are expecting down the line.

As a result, investors are keeping a close eye on any shifts in sentiment towards tech stocks.

In our table this week the biggest discount mover, Manchester & London Ord (LSE:MNL), has produced handsome gains in recent years from its huge exposure to the AI theme, with NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) having whopping positions of 42.4% and 22.4%. However, the volatility associated with the AI theme can cause its discount to widen, with a nine percentage point rise over the past week to -28.3%.

This volatility might also explain the presence of Fidelity Emerging Markets Ord (LSE:FEML). A strong performer over both one and three years, just over 16% of its portfolio is in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd ADR (NYSE:TSM) shares alone.

Elsewhere, the second-biggest discount mover over the past week is the Seraphim Space Inv Tr plc C Share (LSE:SSIC). A seven percentage point rise lifts the discount to -22.7%. In contrast, the main share class of Seraphim Space Investment Trust Ord (LSE:SSIT) is trading on a small premium of 3.9%.

C shares are a separate pool of money, commonly used as a way of avoiding “cash drag” on the main shares while the new money is deployed. Over time, the C shares get rolled into the main shares. In May, £137 million was raised via its C share placing, providing plenty of funds to put into “advanced investment opportunities” but falling short of a £350 million ceiling.

Beyond those names, we once again see the appearance of HgCapital Trust Ord (LSE:HGT), one of the most prominent victims of the software sell-off that started playing out earlier this year.

The Baillie Gifford-managed Schiehallion Fund Ord (LSE:MNTN) also features. The portfolio holds long-term minority investments in later stage private businesses. Its two top holdings have listed on the main market this year: Bending Spoons SpA (NASDAQ:BSP) and Space Exploration Technologies Corp Class A (NASDAQ:SPCX). 

Source: Morningstar, close of trading 18 to 25 September 2026.