The Association of Investment Companies (AIC) has revealed the 20 investment companies which were most viewed on its website www.theaic.co.uk in H1 2020.
Traffic to the AIC website was 24% higher than the same period last year and April set a new record for visits to the site, with over 51,000 that month.
Scottish Mortgage was the most viewed investment company. The FTSE 100 constituent has returned 730% over the past 10-years.
City of London was second. The investment company managed by Job Curtis has grown its dividend for 53 consecutive years. Murray International was the third most viewed investment company and completing the top five were Merchants and Edinburgh Investment Trust from the UK Equity Income sector.
Rising dividends
Investment companies with long track records of consecutive dividend growth attracted a lot of interest. Dividend hero investment companies, those which have raised dividends for 20 or more years in a row, made up 11 of the top 20. A further five are in the next generation of dividend heroes having raised dividends for 10 or more consecutive years but less than 20.
Six investment companies were new this year, having not appeared in H1 2019. The new arrivals were: Allianz Technology (11th), Scottish Investment Trust (14th), Law Debenture Corporation (15th), BlackRock World Mining (18th), BlackRock Throgmorton (19th) and RIT Capital Partners (20th).
Annabel Brodie-Smith, Communications Director of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), said, “More people than ever have used the AIC website to help inform their investment decisions during the difficult times we have seen over the past few months. April set a new record for monthly visits. The website contains a wealth of investment company information from performance and portfolio data to charges and manager details.
“The list of most viewed investment companies shows that income remains a top priority but it also demonstrates that investors have been attracted to a wide range of strategies from growth to capital preservation.”
Top 20 most viewed investment companies on www.theaic.co.uk
| Investment company | AIC sector | Rank and movement in places from H1 2019 |
| Scottish Mortgage* | Global | 1(▲1) |
| City of London* | UK Equity Income | 2 (▼1) |
| Murray International# | Global Equity Income | 3 (=) |
| Merchants* | UK Equity Income | 4 (▲2) |
| Edinburgh Investment Trust# | UK Equity Income | 5 (▲2) |
| Finsbury Growth & Income | UK Equity Income | 6 (▼2) |
| Temple Bar* | UK Equity Income | 7 (▲7) |
| F&C Investment Trust* | Global | 8 (▼3) |
| Henderson Far East Income# | Asia Pacific Income | 9 (▼1) |
| Alliance Trust* | Global | 10 (▲3) |
| Allianz Technology | Technology & Media | 11 (New) |
| Bankers* | Global | 12 (▼3) |
| Perpetual Income & Growth* | UK Equity Income | 13 (▲2) |
| Scottish Investment Trust* | Global | 14 (New) |
| Law Debenture Corporation# | UK Equity Income | 15 (New) |
| Scottish American* | Global Equity Income | 16 (▼4) |
| Witan* | Global | 17 (▼1) |
| BlackRock World Mining | Commodities & Natural Resources | 18 (New) |
| BlackRock Throgmorton# | UK Smaller Companies | 19 (New) |
| RIT Capital Partners | Flexible Investment | 20 (New) |
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