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IT performance benchmarks to change as AIC overhauls sectors

Trade body enacts changes to property, Asian equity and debt investment trust sectors
May 16, 2019

The Association of Investment Companies (AIC), the trade body that represents investment trusts, has overhauled its sectors and definitions, changing the way investors compare one investment trust with another.

The AIC is responsible for creating and managing investment trust sectors, which are designed to group similar funds together so investors can compare returns, with sector average returns acting as a benchmark for active fund managers to beat. The body has overhauled its sector structure and definitions, creating 13 new sectors and renaming 14 others. Some 31 sectors were left untouched, but the number of sectors has reached 58.

The main impact for private investors is the splitting out of the AIC’s property and Asian equity sectors. The body currently houses all UK property trusts in one sector (Property Direct – UK) but has split this into three: Property UK Commercial, Property UK Healthcare and Property UK Residential. In Asian equity, the AIC currently puts all trusts either into its Asia Pacific ex-Japan or Asia Pacific inc-Japan sectors, but will now split trusts into Asia Pacific, Asia Pacific Income and Asia Pacific Smaller Companies.

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