Bolton China fund wins accolade at IW Investment Trust Awards

Fidelity's China Investment Trust, managed by Anthony Bolton, was named Best New Launch at the 12th annual Investment Week Investment Trust of the Year Awards, held last night.

The judges said the launch has done a huge amount to raise awareness of investment trusts and was the most successful new issue the sector has seen for 16 years.

The manager's preference for a closed-ended structure, and the backing of the group's open-ended sales force, was seen by the judges as supportive of the industry as a whole.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management was named Investment Trust Group of the Year, and the Outstanding Achievement award went to Richard Smith of Invesco Perpetual in recognition of his consistent excellence over more than 22 years of smaller companies fund management, in which he has consistently beaten his benchmark.

Aberdeen landed three awards for trusts it manages, with Murray International, run by Bruce Stout, winning the Global category and Aberdeen New India being named the Best Single Country Investment Trust. The group also won the Asia category for its Asian Smaller Companies trust.

The other winners were:

Asia:

Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies Investment Trust

Emerging Markets:

Templeton Emerging Markets Investment Trust

Europe:

Jupiter European Opportunities Trust

Global:

Murray International Investment Trust

Hedge:

BlueCrest AllBlue Fund Limited

Japan:

Schroder Japan Growth Fund

Private Equity:

HgCapital Trust

Property:

F&C Commercial Property Trust Limited

Single Country:

Aberdeen New India Investment Trust

Specialist:

Worldwide Healthcare Trust

UK Growth:

Artemis Alpha Trust

UK Income:

Joint winners: New City High Yield Fund & Finsbury Growth & Income

UK Smaller Companies:

Standard Life UK Smaller Companies Trust

Most Consistent Performer:

City of London Investment Trust managed by Job Curtis

Best Shareholder Value:

Troy Asset Management

www.investmenttrustawards.com