When it comes to fund selection, every investor will pursue his or her own distinct strategy. Nevertheless, it can be instructive to see which portfolios have piqued the interest of other investors, since this exercise can throw up ideas for further research.
With this in mind, Sharesify notes The Association of Investment Companies’ (AIC) recent list of the 20 most viewed investment trusts on its website during 2025.
Interest rate cuts by central banks are reducing the returns available from cash, so it is no surprise to see income was the dominant theme when it came to companies ranked by the number of AIC website visits in the last calendar year.
Indeed, half (10) of the 20 most viewed investment trusts were AIC ‘dividend heroes’, i.e. trusts that have increased their dividends for at least 20 consecutive years. Four more trusts belonged to the next generation of dividend heroes that have increased dividends for at least ten years but less than 20.
We will count down numbers 10 to 1 and profile each trust in more detail here on Sharesify in the days ahead, but here’s a brief rundown of numbers 20 to 11 to show you the sorts of trusts that attracted the most eyeballs on the AIC site last year.
Going for gold
In twentieth spot was BlackRock World Mining (BRWM), the quarterly dividend-paying trust managed by Evy Hambro and Olivia Markham whose popularity among investors reflects rising commodity prices of recent periods.
However the trust, with allocations to gold, silver, copper, iron ore and uranium and investments in mining titans Vale (VALE:NYSE), Rio Tinto (RIO) and Newmont (NEM:NYSE), actually slipped down the rankings from 15th most viewed in 2024.
Occupying 19th, 18th and 17th spot were three of five new top 20 entrants.
In turn, these were the inflation-busting infrastructure trust International Public Partnerships (INPP). Fellow high-yielder TwentyFour Income Fund (TFIF), a diversified portfolio invested in UK and European asset-backed securities whose popularity is reflected in a 2% premium to NAV (net asset value). And last but not least JPMorgan European Growth & Income (JEGI), a quarterly dividend-paying trust invested in high-quality names such as ASML (ASML:NASDAQ), Nestle (NESN:SWX) and Novartis (NOVN:SWX).
Global ‘all-weather’ trust Brunner (BUT) retained its position in the top 20 most viewed, although it did slide from 9th position to 16th, as did highly-diversified global fund Bankers (BNKR), which fell from 10th to 12th last year.
Worshipping at the Temple
There was plenty of interest in the fortunes of Temple Bar (TMPL), another new top 20 entrant that hopped into 15th spot.
Managed by value specialists Ian Lance and Nick Purves, Temple Bar is the AIC UK Equity Income sector’s best one and five-year share price total return performer. Strong demand for the shares means Temple Bar trades at a slight NAV premium to NAV.
Drifting lower was renewable energy fund Greencoat UK Wind (UKW), which dropped down two places to 14th most viewed.
With investors hungry for dividends in a lower rate environment, 13th and 11th position were occupied by a further two equity income trusts.
These were Murray Income (MUT), the FTSE 250 trust which recently appointed Artemis as its new manager following a comprehensive review of its strategic options. And Scottish American (SAIN), the Baillie Gifford-managed trust which aims to grow dividends at a faster rate than inflation. While Scottish American’s portfolio is focused on global equities, the trust also generates income through investments in bonds, property and other asset types.
James Crux has a personal investment in The Scottish American Investment Trust.
Most viewed trusts on the AIC website in 2025: 11 to 20
| Rank in 2025 | Rank in 2024 | Trust | AIC Sector |
| 11 | 7 | Scottish American | Global Equity Income |
| 12 | 10 | Bankers | Global |
| 13 | 17 | Murray Income | UK Equity Income |
| 14 | 12 | Greencoat UK Wind | |
| 15 | n/a | Temple Bar | UK Equity Income |
| 16 | 9 | Brunner | |
| 17 | n/a | JPMorgan European Growth & Income | |
| 18 | n/a | TwentyFour Income | Debt |
| 19 | n/a | International Public Partnerships | Infrastructure |
| 20 | 15 | BlackRock World Mining | Commodities |
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