Why the trust industry needs to 'take initiative' to compete in new low-cost world

More than 30% of investment companies have made changes to their fee structures since the implementation of the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) at the start of 2013, but sector commentators say more still needs to be done to "level the playing field" between trusts and their open-ended counterparts.

Baillie Gifford became the latest group to adjust the fees on two of its investment trusts earlier this month, when it introduced a new layer to the tiered fee structure on the £422m Japan and £271.8m Edinburgh Worldwide investment trusts. The announcement came after trusts including Aberdeen Asian Income and Lindsell Train reduced or amended the way their fees are calculated earlier this year, while the Baring Emerging Europe and F&C Global Smaller Companies trusts were among those scrapping performance fees altogether. Investment trust sector reaches record high of £141bn Accordi...