Discount Delver: the 10 cheapest trusts on 9 May 2025
We reveal the biggest investment trust discount changes over the past week.
9th May 2025 11:36
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 £20 million in assets and those that are not available on the interactive investor platform.
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Aquila Energy Efficiency Trust (LSE:AEET) is the big mover this week, with its discount rising by over 19 percentage points. It’s in the process of closing and returning cash to shareholders. Higher interest rates have hurt the sector over the past couple of years, with investors moving down the risk scale to take advantage of the higher yields offered by bonds. Over three years, the trust has lost -21.8%.
Another investment trust closing its doors is JPMorgan Global Core Real Assets (LSE:JARA), which launched in late 2019. However, its performance hasn’t delivered, with five-year returns showing a loss of -4.2%.
Property is another area that has been hit by higher interest rates, resulting in big discounts. In this week’s table, both Social Housing REIT (LSE:SOHO) and Schroder Real Estate Invest (LSE:SREI) feature, with respective discounts of -38.9% and -21.1%.
With interest rates declining by 0.25 percentage points to 4.25% this week, and with the expectation of further rate cuts to come, the areas impacted by higher interest rates could tempt bargain hunters in the hope that a recovery plays out.
| Investment trust | Sector | Current discount (%) | Discount/premium change over past week* (%) |
| Aquila Energy Efficiency Trust (LSE:AEET) | Renewable Energy Infrastructure | -40.88 | -19.20 |
| Eurocastle Investment (EURONEXT:ECT) | Debt - Loans & Bonds | -24.84 | -5.50 |
| European Assets (LSE:EAT) | European Smaller Companies | -10.40 | -4.70 |
| JPMorgan Global Core Real Assets (LSE:JARA) | Flexible Investment | -17.18 | -3.80 |
| Social Housing REIT (LSE:SOHO) | Property - UK Residential | -38.88 | -3.10 |
| Schroder Real Estate Invest (LSE:SREI) | Property - UK Commercial | -21.08 | -3.00 |
| Third Point Investors USD (LSE:TPOU) | Hedge Funds | -18.27 | -2.90 |
| Nippon Active Value (LSE:NAVF) | Japanese Smaller Companies | -1.20 | -2.70 |
| Biotech Growth (LSE:BIOG) | Biotechnology & Healthcare | -8.83 | -2.40 |
| abrdn Asian Income Fund (LSE:AAIF) | Asia Pacific Equity Income | -12.52 | -2.40 |
Source: Morningstar. *Data from close of trading 1 May 2025 to 8 May 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.