Fund Profile

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Disclosure – Non-Independent Marketing Communication

This is a non-independent marketing communication commissioned by Brunner. The report has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and is not subject to any prohibition on the dealing ahead of the dissemination of investment research.

Overview
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Overview

Brunner Investment Trust (BUT) offers a ‘one-stop shop’ for equity investors. The managers look for quality growth opportunities across the globe, but with a focus on the price they pay for that growth.

BUT’s portfolio is stylistically balanced and aimed at delivering consistent returns throughout the cycle. The managers achieve this blend through a purely bottom-up approach, analysing the quality, growth and valuation characteristics of companies to create a portfolio of 60-80 holdings.

BUT’s lead manager changed in May 2020, with Lucy Macdonald being replaced by her deputy, Matthew Tillett. Alongside Matthew, Jeremy Kent and Marcus Morris-Eyton have also joined the team as co-managers from other teams at Allianz. However, there has been no change to the process or approach, and the managers draw on the extensive resources of Allianz, as discussed in the Portfolio section.

The trust has outperformed its benchmark in three of the last four years. It has nonetheless lagged its peers in the medium to short term, principally due to its overweight position in the UK and underweight position in the US relative to the rest of the sector. However, as discussed in the Performance section, the trust has rebounded strongly from the coronavirus crash.

BUT is one of the standout trusts in the investment trust universe for dividend growth track records, having increased its dividend for the past 48 years. It currently yields 2.5%. Last year’s dividend was covered 1.3x by revenue reserves, meaning there should be some support in a difficult year for dividends.

The current discount of around 10.9% is one of the highest of those of conventional trusts in the AIC Global sector.

Analyst's View

We believe that BUT offers a way to access some of the themes and countries which have lagged in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, but which could do very well in a recovery. A close examination of the AIC Global peer group shows that it is the conventional trusts (i.e. those which are not funds of funds) which have performed the best, and which have also had the highest exposure to the US market and the lowest exposure to the UK. Additionally, any overweight position to technology has further enhanced portfolio performance.

However, we believe that after such a strong run for the US and for tech, many investors are looking for ways to diversify into areas of the markets which have lagged. Although it does offer exposure to the likes of Microsoft, BUT’s valuation-conscious approach means it has more exposure to sectors and countries with catch-up potential, such as cyclicals or the UK. For example, in the case of the UK we think that once the Brexit period has passed, the team’s in-depth focus on quality and long-term structural drivers means that they could see a number of UK holdings significantly re-rate. Meanwhile, investors will continue to benefit from a ‘dividend hero’ fund, with a 48-year history of raising the dividend and a yield of 2.5%, supported by strong reserves.

bull bear
Exceptional track record of dividend growth Relatively heavy exposure to the UK, an uncertain market
Attractive discount relative to peers Gearing can exacerbate downside
Improved debt structure Diversified approach will lead to underperformance if a small number of companies continue to drive global returns
Continue to Portfolio

Fund History

18 Sep 2024 Betting it all on black?
We ask what has been driving returns in the global equity sector…
04 Sep 2024 Five reasons to be cheerful about the outlook for your portfolio
Our analysts think global markets look likely to continue their ascent…
28 Aug 2024 Dream team
Our analysts review how their fund picks for 2024 have done…
17 Jul 2024 Balancing act
We ask why trusts with a more flexible approach have outperformed…
24 Apr 2024 Fund Analysis
BUT has outperformed its composite benchmark for the fifth consecutive financial year…
03 Jan 2024 Probably better asking an octopus
Our investment trust experts uncurl a tentacle each and choose their ‘top picks’ for 2024…
06 Oct 2023 Are you ready for your closeup?
We explain how the professionals go about building a peer group…
22 Aug 2023 Fund Analysis
BUT’s all-weather portfolio has consistently generated strong performance…
11 May 2023 Tipping point
Battered growth strategies have staged a comeback recently, but what happens now?
25 Jan 2023 Fund Analysis
BUT’s wider-than-average discount may present a buying opportunity, given its long-term consistent performance…
10 Nov 2022 Light at the end of the tunnel
Our speakers struck an optimistic note this week as we considered the prospects for investors at the end of a difficult year…
10 Nov 2022 Slides and Audio: Brunner
Download the presentation and listen to the audio from our webinar from 8 November...
17 Aug 2022 The world for sale
While investment trusts are lagging their open-ended cousins in the global sector, their discounts may provide an attractive entry point...
13 Jul 2022 Ready player one
We wonder where, if anywhere, should investors look for returns after a tumultuous first half of the year…
20 May 2022 Is it time to ditch index funds?
Averaging out makes sense in a boom market but may be much riskier in the future…
11 May 2022 Fund Analysis
BUT trades at an attractive discount despite ranking as one of the top-performing global equity trusts over the past 12 months…
15 Mar 2022 Do you have to sacrifice income for growth?
Brunner proves that investors don’t have to make a binary choice between the two…
10 Feb 2022 A healthy contribution
An aging planet and more spending on healthcare may put wind in the sails of Brunner’s portfolio…
02 Feb 2022 In safe hands
A decade long bull market and the seemingly unstoppable rise of tech stocks have made it easy to forget that good investing usually involves slow and steady gains…
19 Jan 2022 Apples and pears
We examine the relationship between the demand for open- and closed-ended funds, and ask whether investor behaviour can be predicted...
01 Dec 2021 Managing money through a tumultuous cycle
A clear focus on stock selection has helped the team at Brunner navigate a tumultuous year for both value and growth investors…
10 Nov 2021 Fund Analysis
BUT has generated strong returns over 2021 but still trades at a potentially attractive discount…
28 Jul 2021 Income for the ages
By focusing on balancing both income and growth, Brunner’s dividend has weathered the market storms better than many…
16 Jun 2021 A better class of travel*
Sharing many features of a traditional family office, investment trusts offer ordinary investors a cost-effective solution to managing family wealth...
25 May 2021 Quality growth, growing income, discounted price
A key advantage of the investment trust structure is the opportunity to buy well-regarded funds at discounted prices. Here, we explore one of them in depth…
05 May 2021 Fund Analysis
BUT trades at a historically wide discount, despite recent competitive performance and 49 years of dividend increases…
11 Nov 2020 Fund Analysis
Trading at the widest discount in the AIC Global sector, BUT offers a balanced portfolio of global growth opportunities…
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Current Site Kepler Trust Intelligence is produced by the investment companies team at Kepler Partners and is the UK’s premier source of detailed qualitative research on investment trusts. Absolute Hedge is a market leading UCITS research database providing proprietary research on funds, themes and strategies in the UCITS space. Kepler Liquid Strategies is a Dublin domiciled UCITS fund platform featuring a number of best-of-breed fund managers. Kepler Partners is a corporate advisory and asset raising boutique specialising in the regulated funds market in Europe and investment trusts in the UK.