Investment Trust show #7: The big charges debate, F&C on the summer market slump, and why investors are paying a premium for 3i Group

Lots of investors are increasingly turning to cheap tracker funds which means the pressure is on investment trusts to not only outperform the market and prove their worth, but also make their charges more competitive. Dan Coatsworth talks to Annabel Brodie-Smith from the Association of Investment Companies about this topic and to find out which trusts have the highest and lowest costs for investors. Paul Niven, manager of retail investor favourite F&C Investment Trust, is on this week’s podcast to discuss the summer’s market sell-off and whether it has prompted big changes in his portfolio. Laith Khalaf talks to James Carthew from QuotedData about the big merger between Alliance Trust and Witan which is expected to complete in the next few months. 3i Group continues to be one of the few investment trusts to trade at a chunky premium to the value of its underlying assets, so we asked Tom Sieber and Steve Frazer from Shares magazine to explain why investors are happy to pay up to own the shares. Tom also chats about BlackRock World Mining’s latest results and why there is some bad news for anyone thinking metal producers are a great source of dividends.