If it’s heritage you’re after, then Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust is not a bad place to start. Now known as F&C Investment Trust, it was launched in 1868 by Philip Rose, a partner at the law firm that still trades as Norton Rose Fulbright, and claims to be the world’s first collective investment fund, investing primarily in government bonds.
It began investing in equities in 1925 and has holdings in more than 500 listed companies around the world, including in Britain, North America and the emerging markets. It has been managed for the past four years by Paul Niven.
The wide variety of its holdings, both in terms of geographies and business sectors — from consumer goods and healthcare to technology to oil and