Last year was probably one that the managers of the Mercantile Investment Trust would rather forget. The £1.6 billion investment trust suffered a pasting at the hands of the sharp sell-off that began in June and took root in October and it lost value for its shareholders and underperformed against its benchmark over the year. Still, the trust’s shares have recovered well since the end of January and its track record over the longer term is a good one.
Established in 1884, the Mercantile Investment Trust is one of the oldest of its kind on the market. Its investment strategy is to target companies outside the FTSE 100, both medium-sized and smaller businesses, that have a scope for growth that has not yet been spotted