F & C Investment Trust

F & C Investment Trust, formerly Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust, is a publicly traded investment trust. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index; it is also listed on the New Zealand Exchange.[2]

History

The company was founded by Philip Rose, who also founded the Royal Brompton Hospital, in 1868 as The Foreign & Colonial Government Trust: it was the first collective investment scheme in the world[3][4] and specialised in investing in Government bonds.[5]

In 1891 it changed its name to The Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust: it first started investing in equities in 1925.[5]

In 1981, the company launched Graphite Capital, a leading UK private equity firm.[6]

The company shortened its name from The Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust to F & C Investment Trust in 2018.[7]

Operations

The company is managed by Paul Niven of Columbia Threadneedle Investments.[8] The current chair is Beatrice Hollond.[9]

Further reading

  • F&C: A History of Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust by Neil McKendrick and John Newlands, 1999.

References

  1. Annual Report 2025 Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust, retrieved 16 March 2026^
  2. New Zealand Stock Exchange NZX, retrieved 2018-08-14^
  3. Rachel Fixsen. There's life in the old investment trust yet! The Independent, 27 October 2000, retrieved 4 November 2007^
  4. The money doctors The Economist, 2020-11-12, retrieved 2020-11-22^
  5. How has investing changed in the last 150 years UK Capital and Income Investment Trust, Columbia Threadneedle Investments, retrieved 7 April 2024^
  6. Graphite Capital Fund Investors: History retrieved 24 April 2011^
  7. Foreign & Colonial trust changes name to reflect its 'relevance in the modern world' Investment Week, 7 March 2018, retrieved 7 April 2024^
  8. Paul Niven Trust.net, retrieved 9 April 2016^
  9. Beatrice H.M. Hollond Brown Advisory, retrieved 7 April 2024^