Investment Trust , REIT and ETF's- Thoughts (November 2026)

There is a minor error in the table. The yield of AIRE and SUPR are both around 7% and not zero % as shown.

Correction, there is a major error in the table. It's showing the change on the week and not the change on the month. I cannot delete the table.

Unfortunately I'm not able to produce a change on the month table now because once the monthly reference values have been over written by the new month's values they cannot be retrieved.

Molten Ventures (LON:GROW). I hold, did reduce slightly last month as was my largest holding.

Monthly update

Just sold the rest of my previously core holdingn in Polar Capital Holdings (LON:POLR) this morning. My timing could have been better, except that my initial sale was back in August this year, when I felt the shares were looking toppy and I was keen to defend my profit. Even after this morning's 7%+ decline, the shares have had an incredible run and are clearly (to my simple mind) among the most exciting of the fund managers in terms of their proxy value across a whole stable of tech shares. I also can't help feeling that the chart breakdown at Polar Capital Holdings (LON:POLR) is not unrelated to what I see happening at Aberdeen Asian Income Fund (LON:AAIF) , another core favourite in its sector, and discussed below with Ken. It might be a buy opportunity at both shares; alternatively, it might be just the the start of the long-awaited pull back in AI related tech. I've decided for time being to observe both from the bench.

Worth mentioning again?

If immediately after buying or selling a Trust or share (usually because immediately after doing that the buy price goes up or down, suggesting it might have been a wrong decision) there’s a simple solution if using a cheap online broker. Just reverse the decision and buy or sell again.

It’s better than watching the share rise or fall fast and bitterly regretting the original buy/sell decision.

Agree with Brucie about the outstanding Header thread and also the follow up post from Charles. I also liked the addition of the Trusts trading at or near 5 year discounts. There are no obvious buys from those in it this month, but another time there might be.

Brucie included City Of London Investment Trust (LON:CTY) and Temple Bar Investment Trust (LON:TMPL) in his post. Both are proof that Investment Trusts ARE worth investing in. I’ve held City Of London Investment Trust (LON:CTY) for years and it’s done very well and those 60 years of dividend increase mean big dividend yield from the much lower buy price. Temple Bar Investment Trust (LON:TMPL) . Can’t understand why I didn’t buy it as I did buy for the portfolio I run for a relative and his holding has tripled! Wonder though whether buying now is a bit late after such a stellar run?

Another in Brucie’s post Aberdeen Asian Income Fund (LON:AAIF) is looking very tempting now. I hold and am still 25% up but the share price has fallen from 350p peak (that peak reflecting the rapid gains as the Kospi index soared to over 8000 and has now fallen to under 6000 but has gained overnight and also on Friday). The yield is now tempting again too, with their enhanced 6.5% of nav dividend policy. That’s a bonus IF nav recovers again.

Craig Martin of VietNam Holding (LON:VNH) weekly update.

One trillion dollars. It sounds like a stratospheric Dr Evil line from an Austin Powers movie, but it is a very down-to-earth fact. Vietnam's total trade reached US$1 trillionin the first ten months of 2026, up 32.3% (Vietnam News). Exports alone had hit US$464 billion by mid-October, up 25.9% (VietnamNet), against a government target of 15-16%. Full-year trade could approach US$1.2 trillion.


Link here

Whilst many seem to have picked up on the intention to only progress new Renewable Power schemes where they can be connected to the Grid there has been little comment on the stated aim in the Budget of reducing power costs to match our EU neighbours. I was intrigued enough to see if there was any substance behind this and have been pleased to discover a scheme for Manufacturing Sites in the UK. Are other subscribers aware of the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme? Am I a Johnny come lately as usual? Is it significant?

Scheme opened 1 October and Applications must be in by 30 November for sites using 33MWh per annum primarily for making stuff. Intention is to offer savings up to £40/MWh around 12-25% of site total cost from April 27, if I have read this correctly. There is also potential for back payments to April 26 and some mention of an Enhanced Scheme.

Now if that is correct it seems the kind of scheme I could very much support. If we want to keep any sort of substantial industry in the UK competitive power pricing is surely an essential. Some hope then for CO2 and Fertiliser producers, Ceramics, Metal bashers of all forms, etc .

A day early but I have a flight to Malaga at 7:00 in the morning so up early. Away for a week- which be interesting as the end as mid-term elections loom. We were in Malaga after Trump was elected the first time and after a good lunch my wife decided to engage an American couple and their friends in a debate. Given they were in Europe they were Democrats, and so horrified they had decided not to go back to the US but stay in Spain. They had a friend with them , she admitted a well off Floridan and was a Republican normally but said she could not vote for Trump.

So who knows what will happen if she spots some Americans in the restaurant we will be lunching in again- it is a once the week spot!

I am rather baffled by share price movements at the moment- any slight good news sees a big rise in the share price (all shares not trusts) and vice versa. For now I am sitting on the fence and having thought I would invest the proceeds of a short gilt into equities I have re-invested in a Jan2028 low coupon gilt. The budget was dull as is universally reported, I had thought CGT would increase but I guess they want to get a real feel for what they can do before making changes. Welfare cuts will be on the list, but Burnham will have to be better than Starmer and getting the parliamentary party behind him. I assume taxes will rise, I doubt he will call a snap election having publicly stated he will not. But then nowadays words are pretty cheap and meaningless in politics.

The PM may well be better than many recent ones, he seems more focussed and he does care it would appear.

opening the Brexit debate was brave but it needs discussion. What is required are hard facts to show clearly the damage to the economy this caused- or the reverse in the extremely unlikely case it has made things better. I voted Remain and still surprised and saddened at what the result was. Cameron has a lot to answer for, but has escaped pretty lightly and how he had the gall to accept a FM job is beyond me. History may well say that the cohort of Cameron, Osbourne, Johnson and the other privileged "professional" politicians caused the country a lot of damage.

Anyway enough lets see what this month brings.

AI commentary on the month performance.

October 2026 was a rotation month. Money left the crowded AI/tech trade and the assets tied to it (Asian chipmakers, China internet, speculative miners) and moved into defensive, income-paying and rate-sensitive assets. That one shift explains most of both lists.

The losers: three overlapping themes

1. The AI/tech sell-off (PCT, ATT, MNL, and part of the Asia/EM group). The selling started early in the month: Asian markets fell on 9 October after overnight Wall Street losses as AI-boom worries returned. It then broadened, with the sell-off spreading from chips to software and cybersecurity and the sector falling 7.7% in the week to 16 October. It was a positioning unwind as much as a fundamentals story. Hedge funds sold tech at the fastest pace in at least a decade in the week to 15 October, and on 22 October the Nasdaq fell 2.6% and Lam Research dropped 12% despite a record quarter. Worries included data-centre project delays, rising acquisition borrowing costs and a weaker 2027 revenue outlook.

Polar Capital Technology and Allianz Technology are pure plays on this. Manchester & London is a very concentrated portfolio dominated by US mega-cap tech, so it fell almost as hard.

2. Asia, China and emerging markets (FEML, PHI, JCGI, ATR, FCSS, AAS, Mobius). Asian and EM indices are now heavily tech-weighted, through Taiwanese and Korean chipmakers and Chinese internet platforms, so the AI unwind hit them directly. Hong Kong was weak all month. The Hang Seng gapped down over 500 points on 2 October after the National Day break, and on 20 October it fell 1.32% to 23,867, with tech services and retail falling most. Pacific Horizon is also Baillie Gifford growth-style, which suffers most when growth sentiment turns. A strong dollar adds to EM pressure.

3. Gold miners and uranium (GPM, BSRT, GCL; all-trusts list only). Gold drifted lower through October. It fell on 12 October to around $4,165/oz and was about $4,124 by 20 October as oil climbed and inflation worries grew. Higher inflation meant the risk of further Fed hikes, which is bad for a non-yielding asset. Uranium equities also slid: the Themes Uranium & Nuclear ETF fell from $34.85 at end-September to $32.61 at end-October. Junior miners amplify commodity moves, so modest falls in gold and uranium produced the 15–17% drops at Golden Prospect, Baker Steel and Geiger Counter. Crystal Amber looks stock-specific. It is a concentrated UK small-cap activist vehicle, so one or two holdings will have driven the fall. The winners: defensives, income and rate-sensitive assets

As tech sold off, the money went to the opposite end of the market. On 16 October defensive sectors like staples and energy led, and on 22 October staples and utilities rose while tech and communication services fell.

• Finsbury Growth & Income (+11.3%) had the clearest specific catalysts on top of the rotation:
  • It is a concentrated portfolio of UK quality and consumer names, the kind of stocks that benefit when money leaves tech.
  • A new dividend policy started on 1 October. The annual dividend rises from about 20p to about 30p, lifting the yield from 2.6% to 3.9%, with quarterly payments.
  • The manager has said more than half the portfolio is in companies subject to corporate activity in 2026.
  • The share price rose faster than the NAV, so the discount probably narrowed. NAV was 900.93p on 15 October, while the shares were 861p on 22 October, up 2.5% that day.
• Polar Capital Global Healthcare and Ecofin Global Utilities are textbook defensive sectors that gained in this kind of market.
• STS Global Income, Mid Wynd and Edinburgh are quality or value income portfolios with little tech exposure.
• Brown Advisory US Smaller Companies, Aberforth, Baillie Gifford UK Growth and Onward gained as money moved away from mega-caps toward smaller and UK-domestic companies. Onward is a UK micro-cap trust, so its result is probably partly stock-specific.
• Schroder Real Estate, Alternative Income REIT and UIL (all-trusts list) are rate- and income-sensitive. Proceeds from tech selling flowed into Treasuries and pushed yields down, which supports property and infrastructure valuations. The Fed then held rates at 3.75–4.00% on 28 October rather than hiking.
• Tetragon is a diversified alternatives vehicle with low correlation to equity markets, so a risk-off month suits it.

In short: the top and bottom lists are mirror images. Anything tied to AI, Asian tech, China or speculative miners fell 11–17%. UK quality, healthcare, utilities, income and property assets gained. FGT was the standout because the rotation came at the same time as its new dividend policy. A caveat: apart from FGT, I’ve attributed each trust’s move from what it typically holds rather than from its own published commentary. If you want any of these confirmed, the October factsheets, out in early November, would show it.