After well over 1,000 issues Shares' time as a weekly publication is coming to an end. A new monthly version is in the works for customers of AJ Bell and, if that applies to you, remember to look out for that later this year. However, it is clearly a good time to take stock. Having worked for Shares for 18 of its 26 years it's been my privilege and pleasure to edit the magazine for the last 18...

Among the investment trust sector's most storied trusts is RIT Capital Partners (RCP), the big beast of the Association of Investment Companies' (AIC) Flexible Investment sector in which the Rothschild family remains the largest shareholder. Boasting total assets north of £4.2 billion, the trust sits in the bottom half of the sector's five-year share price total return rankings, but RIT...

In the first part of a three-part series featuring opinions and ideas from some of the UK's leading fund managers, we asked which stocks have surprised them the most over the course of the 2024 and why.While it was hard to avoid the influence of AI (artificial intelligence) on portfolios, the breadth of responses was surprising and goes to show how skilled stock-pickers can turn up gems in...

Funds inevitably have their up and downs in performance. When a fund has gone through a particularly poor spell, does this represent a buying opportunity for investors in the expectation it will bounce back to form?Likewise for existing investors, should they stick or twist? Fortunately, there are lots of studies from the institutional fund management world which provide answers to that...

Capital preservation funds are positioned to help investors avoid large losses while growing their wealth too, albeit more slowly than more risk-tolerant funds. In the investment trusts patch, the three main wealth preservers are Ruffer Investment Company (RICA), Capital Gearing Trust (CGT) and Personal Assets Trust (PNL), while RIT Capital Partners (RCP) also has a capital preservation...

Former publishing industry professional John is in his 50s and has been investing for decades, starting at a very early age.John became an investor in his late teens and has started devoting more time to it over the last 20 years. He has always had an interest in markets, even when he was a young boy of seven or eight.A CHILDHOOD INTEREST IN STOCK MARKET SUCCESSES AND FAILURESHe says: ?I read...

Investors sought haven trusts over the past monthCapital preservation trusts proving popular amid geopolitical instabilityUK-focused trusts disappoint as FTSE 100 stallsConflict in the Middle East, an ongoing war in Ukraine, stubbornly high inflation and interest rates… it is no wonder investors have been positioning portfolios for a rocky ride ahead.Names with a reputation for low-risk...

Questions have been raised over RIT Capital's (RCP) capital preservation credentials of late thanks to its exposure to private investments. The shares have notably underperformed those of rival trusts and the discount to NAV (net asset value) has widened significantly.In this article we look at whether the criticism and discount is warranted and consider the recent underperformance of the...