The Scottish Investment Trust - Daring to be different

The Scottish Investment Trust (SCIN) seeks to avoid the ‘madness of crowds’, investing away from the herd in stocks that may be entirely out of favour with the market (‘ugly ducklings’), on the verge of significant improvement (‘change is afoot’), or still undervalued despite being more widely appreciated (‘more to come’). This leads manager Alasdair McKinnon and his team into areas of the market such as banks, food retail and oil companies, which have been somewhat left behind in a stock market rally that may in future be known as the ‘second internet bubble’. McKinnon reports that in spite of average market valuations being at high levels, there is still an abundance of global opportunities for contrarian investors. SCIN’s portfolio is modestly geared on a net basis and has an above-average yield compared with its close peer group.