Top 10 most-popular investment trusts: September 2025

There were three new entries in our top 10 investment trust table in September, with each tapping into different areas of the stock market.

Our monthly tables are based on the number of buys, with regular investing excluded. 

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Fidelity China Special Situations (LSE:FCSS) entered in sixth place, with investor demand picking up on the back of a strong showing over the past year, with its share price total return up 59.4%. China’s stock market has been buoyed by more business-friendly signals and stimulus from government, as well as improved relations in US-China trade negotiations. In turn, this has renewed global investors’ interest, which has boosted the region’s share prices.

One of interactive investor’s Super 60 investment ideas, Fidelity China Special Situations has outperformed its benchmark index since launch 15 years ago. Fund manager Dale Nicholls, who has been manager for 11 years after taking over from star fund manager Anthony Bolton, focuses on companies tapping into the domestic Chinese consumer. Nicholls makes full use of the investment trust structure by employing gearing and owning some unlisted companies.

International Public Partnerships (LSE:INPP) entered in ninth place, with investors attracted to its yield (around 7%) and its discount, currently -15.7%. Returns have been flat over one and three years, up 2.9% and 1.4%. The trust describes its approach as “investing in global and public infrastructure which meets societal and environmental needs both now and into the future”.

Over the past few years, higher interest rates have reduced the appeal of income strategies investing in specialist areas due to bonds, including low-risk options such as money market funds, offering higher yields. For investment trusts, lower demand causes a mismatch between the share price and the value of the underlying investments, the net asset value (or NAV). Over three years, International Public Partnership’s NAV performance shows a gain of 11% - but this is not what investors will have received.  

The discount of -15.7% and a high yield of 6.8% have attracted investors, including our columnist Ian Cowie, who last month added the trust to his “forever fund”.

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Greencoat UK Wind (LSE:UKW), in second place, has been a permanent fixture in our top 10 investment trust table over the past couple of years. Investors are attracted to its dividend track record and its high yield – currently 9.3%. It aims to provide investors with a yearly dividend that increases in line with RPI inflation. This has successfully been achieved each year since the trust launched in 2013 and its dividend yield stands at 7.1%. However, investors who bought in over the past few years, have not seen a recovery play out, reflected in losses of -14.1% and -8.4% over one and three years.

It is clear, though, that some investors are spotting a potential opportunity in both infrastructure and renewable energy trusts, with NextEnergy Solar Ord (LSE:NESF) and Renewables Infrastructure Group (LSE:TRIG) dropping out of the top 10 in September, but featuring last month.

The theory is that pessimism towards this investment area has been overdone and, at some point, demand will pick up, with declines in interest rates a potential catalyst. With UK interest rates currently at 4%, and with further falls expected in the coming months – some investors think the gap between low-risk bonds (which will fall as rates fall) and the yields on offer from renewable energy trusts is large enough to make the trusts attractive again.

The sector average yield for renewable energy infrastructure trusts is 9.9% and the sector average discount is -29.2%. Our recent feature provides an outlook on the sector, and explains where investment trust analysts are finding opportunities.

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With a fund and investment trust, it’s always important to look under the bonnet and understand how it invests. In the case of renewable energy infrastructure trusts, some invest in a niche area, such as solar, wind, hydrogen, energy efficiency or energy storage. Others have a mix of renewable exposure, with some trusts aiming to benefit both when the wind blows and when the sun shines. So, in this sector, comparing one trust’s performance against another isn’t much use as a variety of strategies means investors risk comparing apples with pears.

The third new entry this month was Murray International (LSE:MYI). The global equity income trust, in the 10th spot, has a longstanding underweight position to US shares and has around a third of its portfolio in shares listed in Asia Pacific or Latin America. It has an above average dividend yield, typically around 4.5%.

Samantha Fitzpatrick, co-fund manager of Murray International, says the focus is on “companies with strong balance sheets that enables that dividend to be paid year in, year out, hopefully.” She adds: “We want companies with well-established management teams and that hopefully have been through difficulty in the past and you can see how the management team copes with that.”

The rest of the top 10 mainly contains a mix of global and technology-focused strategies.

Topping the table is Scottish Mortgage (LSE:SMT). The Baillie Gifford-managed trust is hugely popular with retail investors. Its approach of trying to identify exceptional growth companies (both listed and unlisted) has paid off over the long term. Its one-year performance numbers, up 35.2%, reveals a strong rebound following a tough time for its high-growth investment style in the period when UK interest rates rose from rock-bottom levels to peak at 5.25%.

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Lower down the table, in seventh place, is JPMorgan Global Growth & Income (LSE:JGGI). It holds 50 “best idea” stocks, while paying quarterly distributions with the intention of paying dividends totalling at least 4% a year. 

Next, in eighth, is F&C Investment Trust (LSE:FCIT). It takes a multi-manager approach to investing actively in global equities, with the aim of achieving both capital and income growth over the long term through a well-diversified portfolio. More than 400 companies are held.

Technology specialist Polar Capital Technology Ord (LSE:PCT) appears in fourth place, but its peer Allianz Technology has fallen out of the top 10. Many investors are shrugging off concerns from some investment professionals and commentators about valuations being potentially overheated on the back of the sector’s stellar performance over both short and long-term time frames. Both technology trusts tap into sub-themes in the sector, including advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing.

Finally, two UK trusts feature in our top 10 for September, with City of London (LSE:CTY) in third place and Temple Bar (LSE:TMPL) in fifth.

City of London mainly invests in FTSE 100 firms that demonstrate good prospects for growing their profits and dividends. It has been managed by veteran fund manager Job Curtis since 1991. This “Steady Eddie” investment trust is a reliable dividend payer, having increased payouts each year since 1966.  

Temple Bar invests in value shares –  searching for “unloved” companies and sectors that are potentially mispriced. This investment style has performed strongly over the past one, three and five years, as our recent analysis reveals. Its fund managers, Nick Purves and Ian Lance, invest in good quality companies they believe are unjustly out of favour. The duo focus on financial strength – strong cash flows and robust balance sheets – to avoid “value traps”, companies that are cheap for a good reason due to structural decline.

Lance recently took part in our Insider Interview video series. You can watch these interviews via the links below.

• Watch our video: two value buys – and why banks are still a bargain
• Watch our video: why UK shares can keep rising despite weak economy

Top 10 most-popular trusts in September 2025

Source: The Association of Investment Companies (AIC) and Morningstar. Performance data to 30 September 2025. Note: the top 10 is based on the number of “buys” during the month of September. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.