QuotedData's Matthew Read: Time to talk about discounts

'Widening discounts are not good for shareholders'

Investment trust ratings, like equity markets in general, have for the past 18 months been impacted by the higher rates of inflation and the interest rate rises that have accompanied these.

Longer duration assets - such as growth stocks that tend to have a higher proportion of their value discounted from some point in the future - have suffered the most, but with the risk of recession having increased, very few areas have been left unscathed as investors have sought the safety of value or more defensive stocks. Some have pulled money out of equities altogether in favour of fixed income positions that now offer better returns than they have done for a long time. Shareholder activism and M&A surge is a mixed blessing for investment trust sector Many investment trust hol...