The MoneyWeek investment trust portfolio, created in June 2012, has generated a 248% return in share-price terms over 14 years, equating to 9.2% per year. This performance assumes no rebalancing between holdings. In comparison, the FTSE UK All-Share index returned 5.2% per year, while the US-heavy FTSE All-World index returned 9.7% over the same period.
The portfolio was designed to be easy-to-follow and long-term, with investment trusts selected for their performance, flexibility, and cost. Initially comprising six holdings, only six changes have been made over 14 years, and two of the original trusts, Personal Assets and Scottish Mortgage, are still included.
Changes to the portfolio have added value in approximately half of the instances, with the other half resulting in worse returns than if no change had been made. For example, switching from BH Macro to Caledonia Investments led to a 124% return compared to BH Macro's 114% return. However, the sequence of changes from Finsbury Growth & Income to Temple Bar, Mid Wynd International, and then JPMorgan Global Growth & Income yielded a 65% return, while staying with Finsbury would have returned 142%.