Short positions... trust floats dry up

⬛ Uncertainty and market volatility has “killed off” new investment trust launches, says Dave Baxter in Investors’ Chronicle. Not a single new trust has floated so far this year, in contrast to the end of 2021, when eight launches raised a total of £2bn, according to brokers Numis. Cordiant Global Agricultural Income (CGAI), the sole trust to come close to an initial public offering (IPO), delayed its plans in early April. That said, “some interesting new trusts may be waiting in the wings”, says Numis – as well as CGAI, these include an agri-tech fund, a lifesciences fund and a trust aiming to provide funding to female and underrepresented entrepreneurs. Nonetheless, existing trusts in certain sectors are still finding it easy to raise more cash, including renewable energy funds and trusts that offer an inflation hedge. Last week, Gore Street Energy Storage raised £150m, while infrastructure fund International Public Partnerships is looking to raise £250m.

⬛ Scottish Mortgage is “no longer Britain’s favourite investment”, says Lauren Almeida in The Telegraph. The tech-heavy trust – which slumped by 23% in the first quarter – was previously the largest holding for private investors of all age groups, according to broker Interactive Investor. It remains a top-five investment across the board, but has lost first place to Fundsmith Equity – run by Terry Smith (pictured) – for investors aged 45-54. Customers aged under 24 now favour Alliance Trust, while the largest holding for those aged 35-44 is carmaker Tesla.