Top 10 most-popular investment trusts: September 2026

Two investment trusts from the troubled but high-yielding property sector have entered the bestseller list for September.

Our monthly list of top trust buys, which excludes regular investment plans and focuses on potentially more tactical “real-time” purchases, includes both Schroder Real Estate Invest Ord (LSE:SREI) and Tritax Big Box Ord (LSE:BBOX).

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The property sector has been under plenty of pressure since around 2022, in part thanks to interest rate rises.

Investment trusts focused on the asset class have seen a pronounced level of consolidation, with few funds now remaining. 

The Association of Investment Companies’ Property – UK Commercial peer group now has just seven members, one of which is in the process of winding up.

One of the names in our list is no stranger to such developments.

Schroder Real Estate, as part of a consortium with LondonMetric Property (LSE:LMP), completed its acquisition of the Picton Property Income trust a few weeks ago.

The enlarged trust has appeal on a few fronts. Its share price dividend yield comes to nearly 9%, while the shares trade at a discount of roughly 36% to portfolio net asset value (NAV).

It looks to hold a diversified mix of UK commercial properties, and prior to the Picton acquisition this involved a big allocation to industrial assets, accounting for roughly half the portfolio.

Recent performance has not been pretty, with the shares down by around a fifth so far in 2026.

The property asset class could have a tough time again as central banks embark on another round of rate rises, and further consolidation cannot be ruled out.

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Having said that, property can also serve as a way to play future trends, including the recent boom in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure spending.

That’s the case for logistics fund Tritax Big Box Ord (LSE:BBOX), which adopted what it dubbed a “power-first” strategy in 2025, focused on building out data-centre assets.

The trust issued some £350 million of new shares in August to finance further developments in the data-centre space.

The shares are relatively flat for 2026 and trade on a 5.5% dividend yield and a roughly 20% discount to NAV.

Once a darling of its sector and a popular play on the growing e-commerce space, Tritax took a big hit in 2022 as rates rose but has had a few bouts of recovery since.

It’s worth noting that two other trusts from the property sector, Supermarket Income REIT  REIT (LSE:SUPR) and TR Property Ord (LSE:TRY), are not far outside the top 10 either.

The regulars return

Beyond that there’s plenty of consistency in the list, with investors showing an interest both in some well-known “growth” funds and some names that stand out for their income generation.

Starting with growth, we see flagship Baillie Gifford vehicle Scottish Mortgage Ord (LSE:SMT) rise to the top spot.

Its focus on themes of the future makes it a very topical fund right now: the freshly IPO-ed Space Exploration Technologies Corp Class A (NASDAQ:SPCX) still accounted for 17.5% of the portfolio at the end of August, with AI darlings Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd ADR (NYSE:TSM), NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA), Anthropic and ASML Holding NV (EURONEXT:ASML) all among its top 10 positions.

The fund’s top 10 list also includes TikTok owner ByteDance, Latin American e-commerce play MercadoLibre Inc (NASDAQ:MELI) and Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA), which saw its shares surge a few weeks ago after a successful trial for a cancer vaccine.

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Scottish Mortgage might also stand out now that one of its stablemates is yet again in the crosshairs of US activist Saba.

We also saw ii customers continue to buy Polar Capital Technology Ord (LSE:PCT) in September, a trust that has doubled down on the AI theme and benefited from its exposure to some of the Asian success stories there.

The list also includes two global equity funds with plenty of exposure to the US and the Magnificent Seven stocks.

There’s F&C Investment Trust Ord (LSE:FCIT), which tends not to stray too far from its underlying market when it comes to its investment strategy, and the more flexible JPMorgan Global Growth & Income Ord (LSE:JGGI).

Both funds have generated very reasonable returns in 2026, although they do lag both the MSCI World and MSCI All World indices over that period.

Yield plays

JGGI will also stand out to some income-hunters, thanks to an enhanced dividend policy that involves it paying out 4% of its NAV each year.

But this month’s table shows that plenty of investors also back more conventional income funds.

First take Greencoat UK Wind (LSE:UKW), which offers a yield of almost 9.5% and slips to second place.

The trust has seen a very decent recovery so far in 2026, with its shares returning roughly 25% even as some peers struggle.

With conflict in the Middle East highlighting the value of energy independence, renewables have returned to favour somewhat.

The story is similar for Renewables Infrastructure Grp (LSE:TRIG), which sits in eighth place.

Investors have enjoyed a roughly 25% return so far in 2026 and the shares still offer a yield of around 9.5%.

Like many a renewables trust, TRIG has set out plans to sell assets and shore up its balance sheet.

That may please investors in the wake of a botched merger attempt with HICL Infrastructure PLC Ord (LSE:HICL) last year.

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Another yield play sits in the table in the form of Henderson Far East Income Ord (LSE:HFEL). 

Boasting a yield of around 9%, its appeal to investors is clear enough.

We have frequently criticised the fund for offering a chunky yield but trailing the competition when it comes to total returns.

However, the fund’s manager has sought to argue that he is taking a conservative approach in frothy markets – something that might pay off in a sustained sell-off.

Two specialists exit

A couple of specialist trusts exited the list in September, in the form of City Natural Resources Grow & Inc PLC (LSE:CYN) and Seraphim Space Investment Trust Ord (LSE:SSIT).

An extremely strong performer in recent years, Seraphim has struggled in the wake of June’s SpaceX IPO, suggesting that trade has lost some of its momentum.

CYN, with its exposure to company shares in different parts of the commodity complex, has had its own share of volatility this year.

The City fund has fallen well down in the rankings over the last month and would not even make it into a list of the 20 most bought trusts this time round.

Top 10 most-popular investment trusts in September

Source: FE. Top 10 is based on the number of buys in September. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.