 | Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust was established in 1868 and was the world's first investment trust. A major innovation of its time and a pioneer of collective investments, it was specifically designed to reduce investors' risk by spreading their investment between a number of stocks. Today, the Trust is one of the largest global growth investment trusts in the world. Over the years the Trust has helped finance a diverse range of projects and industries such as, North Sea Oil, Cats (the musical), the Independent newspaper and the Channel Tunnel. In 2002, Foreign & Colonial committed £150 million to private equity, through HarbourVest Partners and Pantheon Ventures, for investment over the next 5 years. Further information about the private equity investments made by the Trust can be found in the latest |   |
| Today, Foreign & Colonial is widely recognised as the grandfather of the investment trust industry. It now manages assets of £2.0 billion, which are invested in over 670 different companies in 36 countries. Currently, the Trust has over 108,000 shareholders, of which 87,000 are investors through F&C savings plans. The money is looked after by F&C Management Limited, a subsidiary of F&C Asset Management plc, one of the larger fund management companies in the UK and a listed company now majority owned by Friends Provident, the well-known UK insurance company. With over £90 billion of assets under management , F&C has significant resources in terms of research, access to companies and support to financial advisers. F&C and Foreign and Colonial are totally independent of eachother. For a more indepth look at the history of Trusts history, you can read the book F&C a History of Foreign and Colonial Investment Trust by John Newlands and Neil McKendrick. | Background |