RDR provides new dawn for ITs

Investment trusts were for many years the only way for individuals to gain access to a range of assets that would have been unattainable to the average investor.

Nowadays, the majority of funds under management in the collective investment industry are in unit trusts or Open Ended Investment Companies (Oeics). Figures from the IMA showed open-ended funds under management of almost £413bn as at the end of July 2009. By comparison, the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), the trade organisation for the closed-ended investment company industry, detailed total assets under management of £79bn. Various reasons have been mooted for this imbalance, the perceived complexity of investment trusts and the lack of commission paid to IFAs being the most ...