Murray Income Trust - Maintaining a commitment to quality and income

Murray Income Trust (MUT) invests in a diversified portfolio of mainly UK equities. It focuses on quality stocks and aims to provide a high and growing income, combined with capital growth. MUT’s merger with Perpetual Income and Growth Investment Trust (PLI) in Q420 doubled the trust’s assets under management and is expected to deliver a reduction to its already competitive fee. The income MUT provides to investors has proved very resilient during the pandemic, despite widespread dividend cuts – the trust delivered its 47th consecutive year of increased annual dividends in 2020 and the board is committed to maintaining this record in future. Recent relative performance has been challenged by the rotation into cyclical and value stocks, which has seen the quality companies MUT targets underperform. However, the trust has outperformed the broad UK market over the longer term and outpaced its peers over three and five years. The trust’s manager, Charlie Luke, believes the recent rotation into cyclical and value stocks will prove short-lived. He intends to maintain his focus on higher-quality companies that should thrive in the current tough environment and emerge over time in a stronger competitive position.