Investment trust sector 'proves its mettle' as 2020 dividend payouts up 4.2%

Trusts splash out extra £87m last year

As companies across the world turned off their dividend taps, investment trusts emerged as the one bright spot, having increased their 2020 dividend payments by 4.2%.

Special analysis from Link Group Dividend Monitor shows ITs dished out an extra £87m in dividends last year, despite companies across the globe struggling to maintain payouts. Even during the crisis months of April to December, more than three quarters of trusts investing in equities managed to increase payouts or at least leave them unchanged, paying out a total of £1.9bn in 2020. Triple Point's Digital 9 Infrastructure trust raises £300m in IPO Link attributes the sector's success to the fact that the vehicles kept back some £1.6bn in reserves from the "good years" to support div...