Discount Delver: the 10 cheapest trusts on 3 July 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.        

• Invest with ii: Invest in Investment Trusts | Top UK Shares| Interactive investor Offers

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.

Warm nights, quiet weeks

The summer season can sometimes mean there is less going on to move markets – but, with fewer people around to trade, those markets can move easily on lower volumes of trading.

That might be the case this week, where we see a handful of discounts drift out without any specific news from the trusts affected.

UK small-cap trusts often see their discounts advance, and this week both Strategic Equity Capital Ord (LSE:SEC) and Aberforth Geared Value & Income Ord (LSE:AGVI) feature in the table.

SEC in particular has a distinctive approach: like rival fund Odyssean Investment Trust Ord (LSE:OIT) it applies a “private equity approach” to public markets, taking chunky positions in companies and agitating for positive changes. SEC currently has big allocations to Trufin  Ordinary Shares (LSE:TRU), Costain Group (LSE:COST) and Netcall (LSE:NET).

• Insider Interview: where we are shopping for UK dividends
• Insider Interview: these shares are often expensive, but are now going cheap

Another UK fund, CT UK High Income Ord (LSE:CHI), also appears in the table once again.

Underperformers getting punished

One other explanation for the discount advances might lie in performance. As we’ve noted before, CT UK High Income has lagged most of its rivals this year, while SEC has also had a difficult 2026.

Elsewhere in the table that same thinking applies to VietNam Holding Ord (LSE:VNH), which has made no announcements in the last week but whose shares are down by around 12% so far in 2026. Its two main rival trusts are either flat for the year or only slightly down.

A similar principle applies to small-cap play Fidelity Asian Values Ord (LSE:FAS), which has lost around 7% this year while, of its rivals, Scottish Oriental Smaller Cos Ord (LSE:SST) is flat for the year and Aberdeen Asia Focus PLC (LSE:AAS) is up by 24%.

• Ian Cowie: my winners and losers in Q2
• Sign up to our free newsletter for investment ideas, latest news and award-winning analysis

Some of the other names in the table simply operate in areas that have had a volatile few weeks.

Take commodity funds CQS Natural Resources G&I Ord (LSE:CYN) and Golden Prospect Precious Metal Ord (LSE:GPM), as well as the artificial intelligence-focused Manchester & London Ord (LSE:MNL).

This week we see a pretty limited showing from trusts focused on so-called alternative assets, with just Foresight Environmental Infra Ord (LSE:FGEN) and GCP Asset Backed Income (LSE:GABI) making an appearance.

Source: Morningstar, close of trading 25 June to 2 July 2026.