Simon Gergel at Allianz Global Investors has managed The Merchants Trust PLC(MRCH), a large British investment trust dedicated to investments in higher yielding FTSE 100 companies, for the past 17 years. His disciplined fundamental investment process has proved to be a successful strategy as MRCH is ahead of its benchmark over the last one, three, five and 10 years. The trust’s NAV total returns also rank top out of 20 funds in the AIC UK Equity Income sector over the last three years. MRCH has a commendable dividend track record, having increased its annual payments for the last 41 consecutive years, and its yield is consistently above the level of the UK market. Gergel’s, and the board’s, confidence in the positive prospects for the UK market is illustrated by a higher level of gearing; the remainder of the trust’s debt facility was drawn down in November 2022.
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