And while investment trusts are experiencing a steady growth rather than the explosion some anticipated, there is still a chance that their unrivalled ability to provide income could see the vehicles emerge as a key solution in retirement planning.
Mr Stoakley elaborates, “There is a lot of pensions being encashed, but a lot of it is going into income-producing assets and investment trusts are really good vehicles for income.”
And the complexity may not end up being such a hurdle for the man in the street, he argues: “Do-it-yourself investors do their own research, and a high proportion will go to investment trusts because they can see that they have some nice benefits.”
Mr Stoakley concedes that these ‘enthusiastic amateurs’ are a minority but adds, “If you consider you’ve got two things happening – people have control of their pension assets and you’ve got the advice gap which is definitely a real phenomenon – you may find more people are forced to become enthusiasts whether they like it or not.”
“It’s fair to say investment trusts are currently firmly in the domain of the professional investor. I personally don’t see that changing over the next few years.” But, he concludes, “it might and I’d like to be wrong.”
