Following the FA Cup Final on Saturday, football fans will be turning their attention to the World Cup. With the first game due to kick off on 11 June as Mexico face South Africa, the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) has estimated how much exposure investment trusts have to each qualifying country.
This year there are 48 countries competing, including England and Scotland. While the two nations are fielding different teams, the available data on regional allocation does not allow for a breakdown between them, so they are both counted within the UK.
Including England and Scotland, investment trusts invest in 36 of the 48 countries competing, from developed markets such as the US and Japan to emerging ones such as Brazil and South Africa, and the tiny island country of Curaçao (see full table below).
Investment trusts have most exposure to the UK, amounting to just over £70 billion of the industry’s total £268 billion of assets. This is followed by the US, with £56 billion invested.
A middle tier of World Cup qualifiers account for at least £1 billion of investment trust investment, including Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, Korea Republic, France, Germany, Brazil, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia and Spain.
These countries are followed by smaller players in the investment trust universe, from South Africa and Belgium to Panama and Côte d’Ivoire each of which accounts for less than £1 million of exposure.
Nick Britton, Research Director of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), said: “Ever since the very first investment trust launched with the word ‘foreign’ in its name 158 years ago, investment trusts have offered an easy way to invest all over the world. Our league table of geographical exposure illustrates that this is still the case.
“Nevertheless, with just weeks to go before the World Cup, it’s interesting to see that the best represented country continues to be the United Kingdom. Investment trusts’ UK exposure ranges from listed equities to property, infrastructure, renewable energy, private companies and early-stage businesses.”
Investment trusts’ exposure to 36 World Cup contenders
| Country | £m of industry assets |
| United Kingdom (England and Scotland) | 70,052.99 |
| United States | 56,039.46 |
| Canada | 6,821.31 |
| Japan | 6,637.32 |
| Netherlands | 5,471.24 |
| Korea Republic (South Korea) | 3,808.68 |
| France | 3,369.96 |
| Germany | 2,735.20 |
| Brazil | 1,980.86 |
| Sweden | 1,905.73 |
| Switzerland | 1,703.14 |
| Australia | 1,340.66 |
| Spain | 1,045.12 |
| South Africa | 629.91 |
| Belgium | 518.54 |
| Mexico | 375.00 |
| Norway | 360.10 |
| Czechia | 316.40 |
| Austria | 148.05 |
| Saudi Arabia | 104.43 |
| Portugal | 81.74 |
| Türkiye | 69.58 |
| Morocco | 55.18 |
| Colombia | 46.93 |
| Uruguay | 39.62 |
| Argentina | 33.23 |
| Egypt | 18.53 |
| Ghana | 14.76 |
| Ecuador | 9.94 |
| New Zealand | 7.21 |
| Tunisia | 5.75 |
| Curaçao | 4.36 |
| Qatar | 1.88 |
| Panama | 0.02 |
| Côte d’Ivoire | 0.01 |
Source: theaic.co.uk / Morningstar
Home advantage
Investment trusts’ £70 billion of UK exposure is broadly spread across asset classes, with £24.7 billion in equities, £17.8 billion in infrastructure, £12.6 billion in property, £6.7 billion in venture capital trusts (VCTs) and £4.0 billion in private equity. The remainder is invested in flexible, specialist and debt mandates.
Non-qualifying countries
Investment trusts also offer exposure to several countries not represented in the World Cup. The chief of these is China, with £8.9 billion of exposure including £2.1 billion in Hong Kong. Taiwan accounts for another £6.3 billion of industry assets, India accounts for £2.7 billion and Vietnam £1.4 billion. Closer to home, investment trusts have £2.9 billion invested in Ireland.
