F&C Investment Trust Overview

What is the F&C Investment Trust?

F&C is the world's oldest investment trust, launched in 1868, and is managed by Columbia Threadneedle Investments with Paul Niven as fund manager since 2014. It aims to grow both capital and income over the long term by investing mainly in a global spread of listed company shares, plus some unlisted securities and private equity, and it can borrow to invest (gearingThe act of borrowing money to fund a company's operations. It can be expressed as a ratio, where the cost of the borrowed amount is compared to the overall value of the company - this is called the gearing or leverage ratio. ).

It is a one-stop global equity trust rather than a specialist. One share gives exposure to more than 350 companies across 35 countries, with the biggest weight in North America and smaller slices in Europe, Japan, emerging marketsA country with an economy considered to be at an earlier stage of development than a more established country - e.g. India compared to the USA. and private equityInvestments in companies that are not publicly traded (i.e. listed on a stock exchange). funds. Total assets were £7.4 billion at 31 August 2026.

Why is it rated by Boring Money?

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Holly MackayCEO and Founder, Boring Money

How has FCIT performed?

All data herein is sourced from FE fundinfo and is correct as at the end of September 2026. Boring Money is not responsible for any data discrepancies.

Why look at it now?

The shares traded at a 7.8% discount to net asset value at the end of August 2026, so buyers were paying about 345p for roughly 374p of underlying assets. That discount had narrowed from 10.0% a month earlier, so it can move either way.

The trust also completed a 4-for-1 share split on 11 May 2026, approved at the AGM on 29 April. This did not change the value of anyone's holding, but it cut the price of a single share to a quarter, which makes small or regular investments easier to size.

What is the risk rating for FCIT?

We rank this at 4/5 on our chilli scale for riskFor a guide on how spicy any trust is, we use FE fundinfo’s Risk Score and sort the trusts into one of our 5 chilli bands. Cash would be no chilli. A non-volatile smooth trust would be 1 or 2. The FTSE 100 would clock in as 4 chillies. Anything very volatile and spicy is a 5..

That fits a broadly spread global equity trust: less volatile than a single-region or single-sector specialist, but still a stock-market investment that will rise and fall. Most of the portfolio is outside of the UK, so a stronger pound may reduce returns in sterling. About 55% is in North American shares, with large positions in big US technology companies and around 11% sits in private equity funds, which are harder to value and sell.

What regions does FCIT invest in?

Geography: North America 55.2% | Emerging Markets 13.4% | Private Equity 10.8% | Europe ex UK 10.5% | Japan 5.5% | UK 3.4% | Pacific ex Japan 0.9% | Liquidity 0.4%

What sectors does FCIT invest in?

The top holdings are led by US technology, alongside payments, banks, healthcare and industrials. Here’s how F&C Investment Trust’s top 20 holdings split by sector.

What are the top holdings?

F&C is far less concentrated than a specialist Trust: its ten largest listed holdings add up to about 19% of the portfolio, and no single company is above 5%. The biggest is Nvidia at 4.8%, followed by Alphabet, Apple and Taiwan Semiconductor. Further down the top 20 are names such as Linde, ASML, Eli Lilly, Safran and Costco.

Source: F&C Investment Trust as at 31/08/2026

What are the key facts? 

Source: F&C Investment Trust as at 31/08/2026