Interactive Investor

Discount Delver: the 10 cheapest trusts on 4 October 2024

We reveal the biggest investment trust discount changes over the past week.

4th October 2024 09:47

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.   

In our weekly series, interactive investor highlights the 10 biggest investment trust discount moves over the past week. We publish this article every Friday, using data up to the close of trading the previous day.   

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. 

Discount moves were at a moderate pace over the past week. Literacy Capital (LSE:BOOK), the private equity trust, was the biggest riser with its discount increasing by more than four percentage points to -7.8%.

In second and third place were PRS REIT (LSE:PRSR) and AVI Japan Opportunity (LSE:AJOT), which saw their discounts edge up by nearly four percentage points to -19.4% and -5.6%.

However, the most eye-catching discount move was Pershing Square Holdings (LSE:PSH). This trust, managed by well-known investor Bill Ackman, has been a strong performer across multiple time periods. But it consistently trades on a big discount, which has now risen to -32.2%.

Investment trust Sector Current discount (%)Discount/premium change over past week* (%)
Literacy Capital (LSE:BOOK)Private Equity-7.77-4.30
PRS REIT (LSE:PRSR)Property - UK Residential-19.40-3.70
AVI Japan Opportunity (LSE:AJOT)Japanese Smaller Companies-5.62-3.50
Aquila European Renewables (LSE:AERI)Renewable Energy Infrastructure-26.98-3.50
Pershing Square Holdings (LSE:PSH)North America-32.21-3.40
LMS Capital (LSE:LMS)Private Equity-58.37-3.30
Miton UK Microcap (LSE:MINI)UK Smaller Companies-9.12-3.20
UIL (LSE:UTL)Flexible Investment-37.11-2.80
US Solar Fund (LSE:USF)Renewable Energy Infrastructure-40.05-2.70
NB Private Equity Partners (LSE:NBPE)Private Equity-26.40-2.60

Source: Morningstar. *Data from close of trading 26 September 2024 to close of trading 3 October 2024.

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.