Are investment trusts too opaque?

ITs

Last week Morningstar launched a scathing attack on the investment trust industry, accusing it of being too opaque because only 65% of companies provide full holdings data on a regular basis.

The data provider alleged that company boards are overly secretive, and warned closed-ended vehicles will remain largely in the shadow of their open-ended counterparts until transparency improves. Morningstar suggested this lack of transparency is a product of the fact there is no legal requirement to report holdings regularly. The 17-page research paper revealed a number of investment companies have never disclosed their full portfolio holdings to shareholders. Alliance Trust, the biggest closed-ended fund in the market, was singled out as one such company, and Morningstar also criti...