Witan Investment Trust (LON:WTAN) invests globally and is one of the largest investment trusts, with net assets of c £2.0bn. It adopts a primarily multi-manager investment approach, aiming to generate long-term capital growth and real growth in income. The trust has a solid investment track record; it has outperformed its blended composite benchmark over one, three, five and 10 years. Against an improving economic and political backdrop in Europe, WTAN has increased its exposure to the region. It has replaced Marathon’s pan-European mandate, appointing two new managers: CRUX Asset Management and S.W. Mitchell Capital. They both run actively managed, concentrated continental European portfolios, using the FTSE Europe ex-UK Index as a benchmark. WTAN has a distinguished dividend history; its annual payout has increased for the last 42 consecutive years.
Investment strategy: Primarily external managers
WTAN adopted a multi-manager approach in 2004, aiming to generate the best possible returns, with lower volatility than a single manager. It typically employs between eight and 13 external managers (currently 10), who have regional mandates and growth or value investment styles. The current multi-manager line-up is: three UK, three global, two European, one Asia-Pacific (including Japan) and one emerging markets. WTAN’s executive team invests up to 10% of total assets in specialist funds, including private equity. Gearing of up to 20% of net assets is permitted; at end-October it was 11%.
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