The most sought-after investment firms revealed

The Association of Investment Companies (AIC) has revealed the investment companies most viewed on its website in the first half of 2021. Traffic to the AIC website was 26% higher than the same period last year and March set a new record for visits to the site, with over 67,000 that month.

The top 5

Scottish Mortgage was the most viewed investment company in the first half of the year. The FTSE 100 constituent has returned 872% over the last ten years.

City of London came second. The investment company managed by Job Curtis has increased its dividend for 54 years in a row. Completing the top five were Bankers, Murray International and F&C Investment Trust from the Global and Global Equity Income sectors.

Rising dividends

Investment companies with long track records of consistent dividend growth were popular. Eleven of the 20 most viewed companies are dividend hero investment companies, having increased their dividends for 20 or more years in a row. Three are in the next generation of dividend heroes, having raised their dividends for ten or more consecutive years but fewer than 20.

New entries

Four investment companies were new, not having appeared in the most viewed list for 2020. The new arrivals were: Monks (11^th), Caledonia Investments (12^th), RIT Capital Partners (17^th) and JPMorgan Global Growth & Income (19^th).

Annabel Brodie-Smith, Communications Director of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), said: “After 2020 when dividends were decimated by the pandemic, it’s understandable that reliable dividend payers were popular. Investment companies have unique benefits in providing consistent and rising income and this would have been a huge reassurance last year. Some 85% of equity income-paying investment companies increased or maintained their dividends in 2020 despite UK dividends plunging 41%.

“Traffic to the AIC website has continued to increase and March saw a new record for monthly visits. The website has a wide variety of investment company information from performance and portfolios to fees and ESG. It’s good to see more investors using it to help inform their decisions.”