Finsbury Growth Company Research (FGT)

Finsbury Growth & Income Trust (FGT) offers an interesting opportunity for shareholders. The trust was launched a century ago, and since 2000 has been managed by Nick Train at UK-based Lindsell Train. For the first 20 years, he mostly outperformed the UK market year after year, via a portfolio of primarily UK quality growth companies, with a bias towards consumer names. However, there has been a reversal in fortunes. Since 2021, Train and deputy manager Madeline Wright (who was appointed in 2019) have faced style headwinds as cyclical/value stocks have led the market. Also, there have been stock-specific issues with some of FGT’s long-term holdings; having a concentrated portfolio of around 20 names means that the performance of one company is likely to have an impact on the whole fund. The trust’s board introduced a continuation vote at the January 2026 AGM. Shareholder support was very much in evidence, with more than 97% voting in favour of FGT continuing. The board has expressed its confidence that the managers’ strategy will lead to improved performance and the board has committed to do whatever it takes to improve shareholder value. In pursuit of this objective, FGT’s H126 results included some important policy changes.