Trustnet Magazine 92 February 2023 | Page 50

IN FOCUS abrdn Equity Income

Thomas Moore ’ s trust is the highest yielding of the AIC ’ s Dividend Heroes , currently paying out 6.3 %

The AIC ’ s Dividend Heroes represent an obvious place to start for anyone investing for income alone . The list is made up of the investment trusts that have raised their dividend for at least 20 years in a row , with some managing the feat for more than 50 . Yet this doesn ’ t automatically make them good income investments – for example , while The Global Smaller Companies Trust has raised its dividend for 52 consecutive years , it is only yielding 1.2 %. Investors would be better off with a Dividend Hero that also has a high starting yield – and none of them is higher than abrdn Equity Income ’ s 6.3 %. The trust ’ s manager Thomas Moore aims to provide an aboveaverage income and capital growth by identifying changing corporate situations that are not fully recognised by the market . While more than half the portfolio is invested in FTSE 100 stocks , it can also hold small and mid caps where inefficiencies are most prevalent . Moore has split his portfolio into three baskets : inflation protection , meaning companies that can benefit from rising prices ; mispriced yield , meaning companies that are more resilient than their low valuations imply ; and latent growth , meaning companies in which positive operational change and potential is overlooked by the market . The analysts at Kepler said the trust ’ s value bias hindered it for most of the past five years , but helped it beat its IT UK Equity Income sector in 2022 , even though sentiment turned against small and mid caps .
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