F&C Investment Trust | About

F&C Investment Trust PLC

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Over 150 years of innovation

150 years of the F&C Investment Trust

The world’s oldest collective investment scheme

The F&C Investment Trust was launched in 1868, bringing the benefits of investing to a wider audience. Take a look at the short video to see a snapshot of history and the changes since launch.

“We started out in 1868 investing in Emerging Market bonds including Brazil – so we have moved from literally investing in the Amazon – to purchasing Amazon.com some 140 years later. After a fifty fold gain on some of those early purchases, it’s now our largest holding.”

Paul Niven, Fund Manager

Investing with F&C Investment Trust

F&C Investment Trust aims to grow your capital and income over the long term. To find the best opportunities for your money to grow, we invest globally:

In the shares, or equities, of well established companies listed on the world’s major stock markets
In rising star companies in developing markets
In some long-term less liquid investments, such as private equity.

TOTAL ASSETS AS AT 31.10.19

£

BILLION

We stay on top of the future, to help you shape yours

To succeed in today’s ever changing world and environment, F&C Investment Trust is always looking forward and thinking to the future. We constantly seek out new opportunities for our investors, to help them achieve their own successes.

Well-established and rising star companies – We invest mostly in equities focusing on strong companies, including household names like Unilever and GlaxoSmithKline as well as powerful newcomers like Netflix and Tesla Motors. We also tap into exciting growth prospects of emerging markets, such as China and Latin America.
Private Equity – We don’t restrict our investors to publicly listed equities. Although riskier, well managed private equity investments can be more rewarding. But not everyone has early access to these long-term less liquid, and often innovative, investment opportunities. We add value for our shareholders by holding a diversified proportion through a range of funds.
AIC Dividend Hero – F&C Investment Trust is one of 20 investment companies which has increased dividends for 20 or more years consecutively to its investors, earning the recognition of The Association of Investment Companies (AIC) Dividend Hero.

Global outreach

We have a global approach with no constraints to specific countries, continents, industries or sectors. Although we mainly invest in publicly listed equities, we still have the flexibility to invest in other types of securities or assets when the time is right.

Adapting to change

F&C Investment Trust has flourished for over 150 years despite two world wars, the great depression, the financial crisis in 2008 and many other ups and downs. We’ve flourished by watching and learning from the markets, innovating and moving with the times and most importantly, never forgetting to take the long-term view.

We spread the risk for smoother returns

Instead of making large investments in a small number of companies, the Trust’s assets are spread more widely over 450 companies. The reason is that if one of the investments doesn’t perform well, then the wider portfolio doesn’t take a big hit. By diversifying our investments, we smooth out the peaks and troughs for our investors.

Income

We recognised long ago the importance of growing dividends for our investors and building up substantial reserves. So, not only have we been prudent by putting money aside, we have increased the payment to investors every year for the past 46 years and it has outpaced inflation in all but one of the last 35 years.

Investment Risks

The value of your investments and any income from them can go down as well as up and you may not get back the original amount invested. Changes in rates of exchange may also reduce the value of your investment. Gearing is used for investment purposes to obtain, increase or reduce exposure to an asset, index or investment. The use of gearing can enhance returns to investors in a rising market, but if the market falls the losses may be greater.

Equipping young people for their future

Financial education plays a key role in the success of our future generations, therefore F&C Investment Trust has set out to help young people build knowledge and confidence around the topics of money, saving and investing.

Financial education roadshow

F&C Investment Trust began an educational roadshow in 2018, touring primary schools in the UK. The programme was created with the Shakespeare Schools Foundation (a cultural education charity that gives young people across the UK the confidence to succeed in life) and was designed to help children develop a better understanding of how money works. Lessons covered a range of topics, including saving, the value of money, and how money grows over time. So far, we have:

Visited 11 schools across the UK
Connected with over 2,000 primary school children.

The F&C Investment Trust prize

Innovative thought and financial education go hand-in-hand. Therefore, as part of our commitment to financial education, we launched the F&C Investment Trust Prize in 2018 in partnership with City of Glasgow College. To encourage students to think about their financial futures, students were challenged to come up with a creative response as to where they saw the future of saving and investing.

Over 30 entries received, ranging from videos, essays to videos and podcasts
Heather Ramsey’s winning entry explored the future growth and the concept of the ‘companion industry’ as an emerging market. Watch Heather’s entry.
The 2020 competition is now open! If you know a UK university student that would be interested in taking part, they can sign up at fcitprize.com

Meet the Board

Beatrice Hollond

Chairman

Appointed to the Board on 1 September 2017 and as Chairman with effect from 1 January 2020. Beatrice spent 16 years at Credit Suisse Asset Management in Global Fixed Income and began her career as an equity analyst at Morgan Grenfell Asset Management. She is Chairman at Millbank Financial Services Limited and a member of the Board of Brown Advisory. She also holds non-executive directorships at Telecoms Plus PLC, M&G Group Limited and Templeton Emerging Markets Investment Trust plc, where she is Senior Independent Director.

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Jeffrey Hewitt

Independent Non-Executive Director

Jeff is a chartered account who was appointed to the Board in September 2010 and as Chairman of the Audit Committee in November 2011. He started his career with Arthur Andersen where he qualified as a chartered accountant, following which he spent seven years with The Boston Consulting Group. Between 1981 and 1991, he held directorships successively with Carrington Viyella, Vantona Viyella and Coats Viyella, where he was Group Strategy Director. Jeff was the Finance Director of Unitech plc from 1991 to 1996 and was the Group Finance Director of Electrocomponents plc from 1996 to 2005 and as Deputy Chairman from 2000 to 2005. He is also a non-executive director of Cenkos Securities plc and chairman of Electro components Pension Trustees.

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Sir Roger Bone KCMG

Senior Independent Non-Executive Director

Sir Roger has had a distinguished career in the British diplomatic service and was appointed to the Board in March 20018. He is also a member of the Audit and Nomination Committees. He was British ambassador to Sweden from 1995 to 1999 and to Brazil from 1999 to 2004. He was Political Counsellor at the British Embassy in Washinton DC from 1985 to 1989, head of the Economic Relations Department there from 1989 to 1991, and was Assistant Under-Secretary of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office between 1991 and 1995. Sir Roger was visiting fellow at Harvard University in 1984/85 and served as private secretary to the Foreign Secretary between 1982 and 1984. He was also one of the Prime Minister's honorary ambassadors for the British business from 2010-2015. He was president of Boeing UK from 2005-2014 and is Chairman of Over-c-ltd and ITM Power plc.

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Sarah Arkle

Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed to the Board in March 2011 and is a member of the Audit Committee. She was Vice Chairman of Threadneedle where she was Chief Investment Officer for ten years until her retirement at the end of December 2010. She was instrumental in establishing Threadneedle's investment process and recruited many of the firm's senior fund managers. In 1982 Sarah moved from stockbroker WI Carr to become a Far East Equity Manager and subsequently became a Director at Allied Dunbar Asset Management, which became part of Threadneedle in May 1994. She is a non-executive director of Henderson Group PLC and JPMorgan Emerging Markets Investment Trust PLC.

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Edward Knapp

Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed to the Board in July 2016 and to the Audit Committee in October 2016. Edward brings a combination of general management, technology and operational experience worldwide, with expertise in the digital transformation of large-scale organisations, Risk, Strategy and Cyber Security. He is currently a Managing Director at HSBC, where he is a Chief Operating Officer and Global Head of Business Management within the Technology function. Prior to that, he was a Chief Operating Officer and Head of Business Management at Barclays Bank within the Global Risk Function, having previously been a Senior Director within the Investment Bank Risk operation at Barclays Capital. Until 2012, Edward was at McKinsey & Company, providing extensive board and executive- level advisory to clients worldwide, focusing on banking operations, strategy, value creation and risk management and technology.

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Francesca Ecsery

Independent Non-Executive Director

Joined the Board in August 2013 and is also a member of the Nomination Committee. She has extensive expertise in Marketing with over 22 years of experience in senior director roles, with both blue chip and start-up companies. She has worked across a broad range of consumer industries and previously held the role of Global Business Development Director at Cheapflights Media. She also held senior executive roles with STA travel, the Thomas Cook Group and Thorn EMI plc. Francesca is also a partner in Advantage Portugal LLP and a non-executive director of Good Energy Group plc, Share Plc, Marshall Motor Holdings plc and VISTA Ltd.

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Nicholas Moakes

Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed to the Board In March 2011. He is a Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of the Investment Division at The Wellcome Trust and a non-executive director of the Investor Forum. He was Head of the Asia Pacific investment team and Co-Head of Emerging Markets at BlackRock Investment Management until 2007.

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