The Merchants Trust in 60 seconds

Edison’s investment companies team recently published an update on The Merchants Trust (ticker: MRCH), which is managed by Simon Gergel at Allianz Global Investors. He aims to generate both income and capital growth from a portfolio of high-quality, reasonably priced, primarily UK equities. Merchants has an attractive, above-market dividend yield around 5% and a 42-year track record of higher dividend payments. The manager is excited about the number of opportunities available that meet his clearly defined investment criteria. Merchants appears well positioned to benefit from increased investor appetite for UK equities, which Gergel expects due to an improving UK economy, a more stable political environment with less divergence between the two leading parties’ policies, and attractive company valuations. The manager has a solid medium- and long-term performance track record. Healthy demand for Merchants meant its share base increased by around 6% in its last financial year.