As the end of the tax year swiftly approaches, now is a good time to take stock and survey your investment options. Perhaps you need to use up some more of your ISA allowance before the deadline or get some inspiration for next year.
So, to get your investing brain fired up and ticking over, I’m going to reveal the best-performing investment trusts from last month. I’ll also explain which funds were the most popular among UK investors.
Keep reading for a detailed scoop on the funds making money and the ones attracting lots of buying interest!
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What were the best-performing investment trusts last month?
According to data from Morningstar, these were the 10 funds with the highest returns in February:
| Rank | Investment trust | Total return |
| 1 | DPA Aircraft I (DPA) | 50% |
| 2 | Geiger Counter (GCL) | 30.2% |
| 3 | British & American (BAF) | 22.7% |
| 4 | BlackRock World Mining (BRWM) | 15.6% |
| 5 | Gulf Investment Fund (GIF) | 12.8% |
| 6 | Seraphim Space (SSIT) | 12.0% |
| 7 | UK Mortgages (UKML) | 9.9% |
| 8 | BlackRock Energy & Resources Income (BERI) | 9.5% |
| 9 | RTW Venture Fund (RTW) | 8.7% |
| 10 | Golden Prospect Precious Metals (GPM) | 7.5% |
Are there any useful insights to be drawn from these profit machines?
Unsurprisingly, a lot of the funds making this top ten focus on investing in mining, commodities and energy. There was already a global squeeze on energy resources, and the conflict in Ukraine has only tightened that pressure grip.
Although plenty of FTSE 100 firms with ties to Russia have seen their share prices suffer, those who don’t have connections have benefited from rising prices and increased demand.
As investors attempt to hedge against the high inflation we’re seeing in most developed countries, plenty of them are also flocking to traditional safe havens like gold to try and preserve wealth.
Because investment trusts have a fixed supply of shares, this increasing demand for funds with certain investing styles (e.g. backing gold or energy), drives up the share price. This is why some of the returns are so high.
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What were the most popular investment trusts last month?
Now that you’ve seen the 10 investment trusts that have made the biggest returns for investors, here are the 10 that have been most popular on the Interactive Investor platform:
| Rank | Trust | Sector | 1-year performance to 1 March 2022 |
| 1 | Scottish Mortgage (SMT) | Global | -14.6% |
| 2 | Polar Capital Technology (PCT) | Technology & Media | 1.2% |
| 3 | City of London (CTY) | UK Equity Income | 9% |
| 4 | Smithson Investment Trust (SSON) | Global Small Companies | -2.1% |
| 5 | BlackRock World Mining (BRWM) | Commodities & Natural Resources | 28.5% |
| 6 | Allianz Technology (ATT) | Technology & Media | -5% |
| 7 | JP Morgan Russian Securities (JRS) | Country Specialist | -42.5% |
| 8 | Capital Gearing (CGT) | Flexible Investment | 9.2% |
| 9 | Edinburgh Worldwide (EWI) | Global Smaller Companies | -38.6% |
| 10 | Baillie Gifford US Growth (USA) | North America | -33.5% |
Why were some of these choices so popular?
It’s interesting to see that many investment trust investors aren’t following economic trends or attempting to grab the funds making the most returns. Instead, they’re taking Warren Buffett’s advice and being ‘greedy whilst others are fearful’.
Although there are some defensive picks here, such as City of London (CTY) and BlackRock World Mining (BRWM), plenty of these choices are growth or US-focused. This includes the likes of:
- Scottish Mortgage (SMT)
- Polar Capital Technology (PCT)
- Allianz Technology (ATT)
- Edinburgh Worldwide (EWI)
- Baillie Gifford US Growth (USA)
Many of these growth-centric investment trusts have posted meagre returns or even significant losses over the last twelve months. However, investors see this price depletion as a great long-term investing opportunity.
This highlights that although there’s been a shift in what’s making money right now, plenty of investors are still looking at the bigger picture and expanding their time horizons.
How can you pick the right investment trusts to put your money into?
It’s important that you don’t just copy what others are doing when it comes to investing. Seeing what’s making money and what’s popular gives you a useful peek inside the brains of UK investors. But, it’s important that you find investments that suit your investing strategy and individual goals.
Once you’ve decided what you’d like your long-term plan to look like, you’ll need a share dealing account that provides a decent range of investment trusts. An account such as the Interactive Investor Stocks and Shares ISA will also protect your returns from tax.
Just remember that all investing carries a certain degree of risk, and you may get out less than you put in. So, always do your research and make sure you don’t invest more than you can afford to lose.
