Discount Delver: the 10 cheapest trusts on 3 October 2025
We reveal the biggest investment trust discount changes over the past week.
3rd October 2025 10:59
by Kyle Caldwell from interactive investor
Investment trusts, due to their closed-ended structure, offer investors the chance of picking up a potential bargain. Such an opportunity arises when a trust’s share price is lower than the underlying investments held by the trust (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 how it invests.
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In our 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.
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For the third successive week, renewable energy infrastructure and property trusts prominently feature in our table. Investment trusts focusing on those two parts of the market have been out of favour over the past few years amid rising interest rates, which is reflected in the big discounts on offer.
Higher interest rates have reduced the appeal of income strategies investing in specialist areas, which is why renewable energy infrastructure and property are experiencing low demand. In turn, this causes a mismatch between an investment trust’s share price and the value of the underlying investments, the net asset value (or NAV).
Those featuring in the table this week are: Life Science REIT (LSE:LABS), Globalworth Real Estate Investments (LSE:GWI), Gore Street Energy Storage Fund (LSE:GSF), Aquila European Renewables (LSE:AERI), and Premier Miton Global Renewables Trust (LSE:PMGR).
Topping the table this week is UK smaller companies trust Strategic Equity Capital (LSE:SEC), which has seen its discount increase by nearly six percentage points to -12.7%.
| Investment trust | Sector | Current discount (%) | Discount/premium change over past week* (%) |
| Strategic Equity Capital (LSE:SEC) | UK Smaller Companies | -12.7 | -5.7 |
| Gabelli Merchant Partners (LSE:GMP) | Hedge Funds | -18.3 | -5.5 |
| Life Science REIT (LSE:LABS) | Property - UK Commercial | -45.6 | -4.7 |
| Globalworth Real Estate Investments (LSE:GWI) | Property - Europe | -58.6 | -3.7 |
| Geiger Counter (LSE:GCL) | Commodities & Natural Resources | -14.9 | -3.6 |
| Manchester & London (LSE:MNL) | Global | -20.5 | -3.6 |
| Gore Street Energy Storage Fund (LSE:GSF) | Renewable Energy Infrastructure | -50.7 | -3.5 |
| Aquila European Renewables (LSE:AERI) | Renewable Energy Infrastructure | -43.5 | -3.4 |
| Premier Miton Global Renewables Trust (LSE:PMGR) | Infrastructure Securities | -9.6 | -3.1 |
| Barings Emerging EMEA Opportunities (LSE:BEMO) | Global Emerging Markets | -12.2 | -2.6 |
Source: Morningstar. *Data from close of trading 25 September 2025 to 2 October 2025.
These articles are provided for information purposes only. Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties. The content is not intended to be a personal recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product, or to adopt any investment strategy as it is not provided based on an assessment of your investing knowledge and experience, your financial situation or your investment objectives. The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.
Full performance can be found on the company or index summary page on the interactive investor website. Simply click on the company's or index name highlighted in the article.