How does Boring Money award the Investment Trust Rated badge?

Boring Money awards its Investment Trust Rated badge to Trusts that pass six data screens: performance, size, currency, discount to NAV, gearing and sectors they invest in. We use AIC data as at 30 June 2026, plus a human review of how clearly each trust communicates with everyday investors. Only trusts that clear both the numbers and the human check earn the badge.

Investment Trusts can be a great way to invest, but with hundreds to choose from it is hard to know where to start. Our Rated badge is designed to help. It flags Trusts that have passed a clear set of checks, plus a review of how well they treat everyday investors.

Here’s how we award the badge, so you can see which Investment Trusts are worth a closer look.

What data does Boring Money use to award the Rated badge?

We use data from the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), as at 30 June 2026, comparing every Trust against others in its own sector.

The AIC is the industry body for Investment Trusts, so using its data means every trust is measured like-for-like against its direct peers, not the wider market.

How does Boring Money score investment Trust performance?

We weight five-year returns most heavily, and set aside Trusts without a five-year track record.

Where a Trust sits just below its sector (this is the collection of other trusts which invest in similar things and ways) average over five years, we also check its ten-year record before making a final call, ensuring longer-term performance is factored in instead of short-term movements.

We also look at performance after all fees and charges are made to make sure this is taken into account. We want to make sure that we’re acknowledging decent performing trusts in their sector.

What size criteria must an investment Trust meet?

A Trust needs at least £300m in total assets, or £100m if it's in the UK Smaller Companies sector.

Smaller Trusts can be harder to buy and sell, which matters for everyday investors. They are also more at risk of liquidity challenges. The lower £100m threshold for UK Smaller Companies Trusts reflects that Trusts in this sector are naturally smaller.

Does currency affect Investment Trust Rated eligibility?

Yes - only Trusts that trade in sterling are eligible.

This keeps things simple and relevant for UK investors, avoiding currency-conversion confusion and charges.

What discount to NAV disqualifies a Trust?

Trusts trading more than 30% below their net asset value (NAV) are screened out.

A Trust's NAV is the value of everything it owns. Trusts can trade above this, also known as a premium, which means you would be paying extra. This could be because the manager is very effective, leading to expectations that NAV will increase soon, or the trust has become more popular.

Here's an analogy:

A Coldplay concert ticket might cost £125. That's it's NAV. But if it's really popular and sells out, it will trade at a premium and command much higher prices on the open market.

Trusts can also trade below the NAV, which is a discount, meaning you’re buying assets for less than they’re worth. This typically means it’s a bit unloved right now. A very wide discount can be a warning sign, so Trusts beyond this threshold don't qualify for the badge.

How much gearing (borrowing) is allowed?

Trusts that have borrowed more than 25% relative to their assets are screened out.

Gearing can boost returns, but it can also deepen losses. Capping it at 25% helps filter out Trusts carrying outsized risk from debt.

Which sectors are excluded from the Rated badge?

Debt and Venture Capital Trust (VCT) sectors are excluded.

These sectors work by pooling money from investors to buy shares and debt in small businesses. We exclude these as they operate differently to standard Investment Trusts and sit outside the scope of this rating.

What is the human check for the Investment Trust Rated badge?

Once a Trust clears every data screen, Boring Money reviews how clearly, honestly and helpfully it communicates with everyday investors.

Passing the numbers is only part of the story. We ask the company to share examples of how it communicates with investors and review these alongside its own website. Only Trusts that pass both the data screens and this human review earn the Boring Money Rated badge.

How is the chilli rating calculated on the comparison tables?

We use chillies as a simple, quick guide to risk, to help consumers know what to expect. We have used FE fundinfo’s Risk Scores to grade each trust into one of 5 bands. The ‘spiciness’ actually is pegged to volatility. In FE fundinfo’s scoring, cash is 0 and the FTSE 100 is 100. Anything more volatile is higher than 100. We have mapped our 5 chilli bands to these FE fundinfo scores to segregate trusts into 5 equally sized bands, which show a reasonable reflection of trusts by risk level.