Finsbury Growth & Income Trust - Looking forward to improved relative performance

Finsbury Growth & Income Trust (FGT) has been managed by Nick Train since the beginning of 2001 and in 2019 Madeline Wright was appointed as the trust’s deputy portfolio manager. Despite an impressive long-term record – during Train’s tenure to the end of 2023, FGT’s NAV generated a 9.0% annual total return versus the UK market’s 5.1% annual total return – there have now been three consecutive years of underperformance. The managers will continue to employ the long-term successful strategy of running a concentrated fund, investing in quality growth businesses, with high returns and low capital intensity, which can thrive throughout the economic cycle. Train and Wright believe that the market will reward FGT’s shareholders over time. Portfolio names change infrequently in keeping with the fund’s very low turnover, but in September 2023, property platform Rightmove entered the portfolio; this was the first new holding since 2020.