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]

F & C Investment Trust plc

Company type	Public
Traded as	LSE: FCIT NZX: FCT FTSE 100 component
Industry	Investment management
Founded	1868; 157 years ago (1868)
Headquarters	London, England
Key people	Simon Fraser (Chairman) Paul Niven (Fund manager)
Revenue	£111.8 million (2024)[1]
Operating income	£100.7 million (2024)[1]
Net income	£84.6 million (2024)[1]
Website	www.foreignandcolonial.com

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 F&C Asset Management.^[8] The current chair is Beatrice Hollond.^[9]