Investment trust ownership among UK investors falls to 9%

Fewer than one in 10 (9 per cent) UK investors include an investment trust in their portfolios, according to Boring Money, the lowest level since the company started tracking adoption in 2021.

Over the past year, investment trust ownership fell from 12 per cent to 9 per cent, with an estimated 2.18 million investment trust holders in the UK.

Boring Money’s Investment Trust Report 2026 showed that trust ownership among 35-54 year olds had fallen “sharply”, dropping from 12 per cent to 7 per cent over the past year.

However, adoption among younger investors increased year-on-year, rising from 7 per cent to 9 per cent among under-35s.

In contrast, exchange-traded fund (ETF) ownership has nearly quadrupled over the past six years, increasing from 5 per cent to almost one in five investors.

Fund ownership has fallen over the past year, from 23 per cent to 19 per cent, although the longer-term trend for funds has been “broadly stable”, according to Boring Money.

“Saba created upheaval in the industry and highlighted the importance of the retail investor vote,” said Boring Money CEO, Holly Mackay.

“This coupled with declining levels of adoption is a real call to action for boards to engage with the customers of tomorrow, and demonstrate the role that trusts have to play in an investor’s portfolio.

“Interestingly we have seen a small 2 percentage point increase in adoption from the under-35s.

“To try to capture some of the growth going to ETF providers, investment trusts have more to do to communicate their benefits to a broader investor base which has higher expectations for simple, compelling messaging and competitive price points.”

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