Brunner Investment Trust lags benchmark after challenging 2025

(Sharecast News) - Brunner Investment Trust reiterated its confidence in its long-term strategy on Thursday after full-year results showed the trust underperformed benchmarks following a volatile period for investors in 2025. "2025 was anything but ordinary", according to chair Carolan Dobson, who highlighted that the global market rally was driven mainly by a narrow group of tech companies.

"We acknowledge that 2025 presented challenges in relative performance terms. The trust's NAV lagged its benchmark as the market concentrated returns in a narrow group of mega-cap technology stocks," Dobson said.

The net asset value total return for the 12 months to 30 November was just 9.0%, compared with a 15.8% return for its benchmark index, with NAV per share rising 7.3% to 1,565.8p.

Meanwhile, the share price fell 2.0% during the financial year. However, earnings per share improved 1.8% to 27.9p, while the dividend was lifted 5.3% to 25.0p.

Looking ahead, Dobson said the new financial year had begun "with as much uncertainty as the last", as elevated geopolitical tensions and global conflicts create a "fragile backdrop".

"While inflation has moderated from its recent peaks, the path ahead is also by no means clear. In this environment, we believe that our managers' focus on bottom-up stock selection, identifying world-class businesses with resilient earnings, is the most prudent course for an investment trust aiming to be at the core of an individual investor's own portfolio," said Dobson.

The stock was up 0.7% at 1,479.5p by 1129 GMT.