F&C Investment Trust: Victorian innovation for modern portfolios

In 1868, the UK was quickly modernising, with William Gladstone becoming prime minister and leading a significant period of political and institutional reform. It was the era when Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, the London Underground was unveiled as the first subterranean railway and the transatlantic telegraph became the forerunner of subsea internet cables. 

This was also the year that the F&C Investment Trust was launched, aiming to bring the benefits of long-term investing to a wider public. This added to the list of Victorian pioneers, offering a combination of overseas investing opportunities and risk mitigation through diversification that has since proved a model for investment funds the world over.

The rest is history. Over time, F&C has grown into one of the UK’s largest and most established investment trusts, evolving alongside global markets to manage £7bn of assets through a long-term approach to investing, active management and the power of compounding over many decades. Over the years, others have followed its lead, and there are now about 350 investment trusts.

A long-term approach 

In the 150 years since F&C’s launch, there have been two world wars, countless recessions and several disruptive technological revolutions. Yet F&C has weathered the testing times and prospered, delivering positive long-term returns to longstanding shareholders. 

At today’s time of uncertainty in financial markets, the trust continues to be managed with its trademark foresight and discipline, not by reacting to short-lived trends. This principle has served generations of investors well, aiming to deliver long-term investment returns. 

F&C is the oldest of Columbia Threadneedle’s eight investment trusts and a model for the others. It shows the success of seeking out long-term investment opportunities, backed by intense research. The trust is a testament to active management.

Meeting a range of investment needs

F&C’s investment approach is applied across the Columbia Threadneedle investment trust stable, each meeting a different investment need. All eight carefully seek to balance risk and return. 

There are trusts for people nearing retirement or already enjoying it. Others suit investors growing or preserving wealth for later life. And there are trusts for a younger generation as they save to buy their first home or embark on the career ladder. 

For those in retirement prioritising reliable income alongside capital growth, UK-focused trusts such as CT Progressive Income Trust and CT UK High Income Trust aim to provide growth and the prospect of reliable dividends. Alternatively, conservative investors seeking to minimise risk through diversification can consider CT Global Managed Portfolio Trust, which blends different investment companies into a single, balanced holding. 

For investors accumulating wealth, growth-focused trusts, including F&C and the specialist Global Smaller Companies Trust, give access to global markets and innovative, high-quality businesses with long-term potential. 

Lastly, if knowledgeable investors want to explore something more specialist, F&C’s alternative investment trusts deliver access to asset classes and strategies typically out of individual investors’ reach. CT Private Equity Trust offers access to the potential benefits of investing in unlisted companies, while TR Property Trust aims to provide capital growth and attractive dividends from UK and European commercial real estate. Lastly, CT Healthcare Trust is a growth-focused trust specialising in healthcare innovation and trends.

This range gives investors a choice. It’s backed by the dependability, experience and thoughtful governance that have supported generations of investors.

How boards protect shareholders

One of F&C’s lasting innovations that safeguards investment trust shareholders to this day is the independent board of directors. This sets investment trusts apart from many other types of investments and brings an extra level of governance. 

Each Columbia Threadneedle investment trust has its own board of directors whose sole responsibility is to act in the best interests of shareholders. They challenge, guide and hold the managers to account, supporting effective oversight of the trust’s long-term investment approach. 

Boards appoint and monitor the investment manager. They push managers to deliver good outcomes for shareholders.

Navigating the future

Just as 1868 was an era of change, so today is a time when the normal pace of progress is accelerating. AI, geopolitics and climate change are hitting all at once, and are creating an investment environment that’s difficult to navigate, with many options and opportunities.

For investors, AI may unlock productivity at scale – one potential way to improve companies’ long-run earnings. The Iran war could have a lasting impact on inflation, and climate change poses risks from more extreme weather, as well as growth opportunities from the energy transition. Judging how to invest will come down to assessing individual companies, an approach consistent with investment trusts’ style of active management and diversification.

Taking F&C’s long-term approach, Columbia Threadneedle’s established investment trusts offer a wide choice to investors. They all benefit from the model pioneered 150 years ago of expert active managers with long-term perspectives who are held to account by boards protecting shareholders’ interests.

Investment trusts are rooted in longevity and heritage. They are a great British innovation that has delivered long-term returns since Victorian times and is equally relevant for investors seeking resilient and long-term returns today.

To learn more about Columbia Threadneedle’s range of investment trusts, visit columbiathreadneedle.com/investment-trusts

disclaimer

Capital at risk. 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. The mention of any bonds or securities is not a recommendation to deal. 

Issued by Columbia Threadneedle Management Limited, No. 517895, registered in England and Wales and authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority. Columbia Threadneedle Investments (Columbia Threadneedle) is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies. © 2026 Columbia Threadneedle. All rights reserved. Approved as at October 2026.

*Source: Lipper and Columbia Threadneedle Investments.

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