Investment Advice

Early 2026 update on the BFIA investment trust portfolio

By James Mackreides 20 Jan, 2026
Early 2026 update on the BFIA investment trust portfolio
2025 was a strong year for the BFIA investment trust portfolio

With very different approaches, Scottish Mortgage and Law Debenture were the top performers.

The BFIA investment trust portfolio was established in 2012 with the straightforward goal of assisting readers in creating a global, all-weather, set-and-forget portfolio. Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Share this article Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter. Over the years, a few things have changed; the most recent was the dismissal of Mid Wynd (LSE: MWY) in April 2025 following a manager change and a period of poor performance, but the objectives have stayed the same.

Personal Assets (LSE: PNL), JP Morgan Global Growth and Income (LSE: JGGI), Scottish Mortgage (LSE: SMT), Caledonia (LSE: CLDN), Law Debenture (LSE: LWDB), and AVI Global (LSE: AGT) are the current holdings in the portfolio.

An equally weighted portfolio of these six trusts yielded a total return of 13.1% in 2025. In contrast, the MSCI World index had a net total return in sterling terms of 12.75 percent, marking the index's third consecutive year of double-digit returns. The Vanguard LifeStrategy 60 percent Equity Fund, a straightforward proxy for a 60/40 equity/bond portfolio, returned 11.6%.

The portfolio performance of the BFIA investment trust in 2025.

With a yearly increase of 24.7%, growth-oriented Scottish Mortgage contributed the most to overall returns. That translated into a 4.1 percent contribution to the portfolio as a whole. Following SpaceX's announcement that it was preparing an initial public offering (IPO) in 2026 and aiming for a valuation of at least £1 trillion, the trusts' returns saw an end-of-year surge.

As of December 31, 2025, Scottish Mortgages' net asset value (NAV) was 1,303.47p per share, up from about 1,200p at the start of the month after revaluing its stake to reflect this. SpaceX now accounts for 15.3% of the fund, up from 8.2% at the start of December, and its current stake is worth 2.2 billion, up from 508 million in September.

At the defensive end of the spectrum, Personal Assets Trust saw a 10.4 percent return last year, bolstered by a nearly 12 percent allocation to gold, which saw a 64.5 percent increase in 2025. The trust has continued to fall short of its benchmark, the UK Retail Price Index, over the last five years. But last year's return was the best since 2021, making up some lost ground.

After performing poorly for a number of years, shares in Caledonia also increased in 2025. The closing of the discount and underlying NAV growth were reflected in the trust's overall return of 11.5 percent. According to the most recent data available, the NAV increased by 4.7% in 2025 after rising by 8.3% in 2024. Due to its exposure to private equity (roughly one-third of the portfolio), where managers have been unable to sell holdings through initial public offerings (IPOs), Caledonia's returns have been hindered. That might alter, though, as the pipeline of anticipated initial public offerings (IPOs) fills up for next year.

The best results were obtained by Law Debenture.

With a total return of 22.3 percent and a contribution of 3.7 percent to the portfolio's overall return, the UK-focused Law Debenture outperformed the other two public equity trusts in the portfolio, JGGI and AVI.

JGGI's year-end total return of 2.9 percent was disappointing. The portfolio's lowest performer was this one. The trust shares started trading at a discount to NAV for the first time in almost ten years, which partially offset the portfolio gains even though its NAV increased by 7.3%. Its overweight stance in US stocks (+7.6 percent when compared to the MSCI World) is partially responsible for this change. Last year, US stocks underperformed their international counterparts, and investors are growing increasingly cautious as political risks increase.

With a 7% return last year, AVI's global value portfolio likewise underperformed. Nonetheless, we appreciate its approach of attempting to unlock value through activist interactions with businesses and its exposure to Asia and Japan.