Many infrastructure and property trusts have posted double-digit share price total returns this year, but this isn’t purely down to the equity market rally. In some cases, as with Downing Renewables & Infrastructure (DORE), a bid offer has prompted a surge in the share price. One sector stalwart, BBGI Global Infrastructure, disappeared earlier this year via a buyout.
The property sector has already undergone consolidation, with change of this nature still afoot for infrastructure trusts of different stripes. When it comes to our list, we still like the current selection, although panellists were keen to swap out one property play for a slightly sturdier name.
HICL Infrastructure (HICL)
Another sector stalwart, with an experienced team and a good level of scale, HICL focuses on ‘core’ infrastructure in sectors such as transport, health, electricity and water. Two-thirds of the portfolio is in the UK and there is some exposure to assets in Europe, the US, Australia and New Zealand.
The trust looks for long-dated income with a degree of inflation linkage and has tended to have a big focus on public-private partnership (PPP) projects and regulated assets, giving its revenues a decent degree of stability.
As we noted in 2024, this is still a portfolio in flux. In recent years the investment team has disposed of some PPP assets (typically government contracts to run social infrastructure services such as hospitals and schools) and focused more on regulated and demand-based assets.
That should help it diversify further and also, in theory, improve the portfolio’s inflation linkage and give it more of a ‘growth’ profile.
We have seen more of this progress in 2025, with HICL recently announcing the disposal of a portfolio of seven UK PPP assets, but the transition remains ongoing rather than at an end.
HICL has had issues in the past, including a lack of dividend increases. But the shifts should help boost income and growth for shareholders in future. What’s more, those shareholders are receiving good compensation for their patience in the form of a 7 per dividend yield and a discount of more than 20 per cent on the trust’s shares.
3i Infrastructure (3IN)
We added this fund to the list in 2024 with the rationale that, unlike many of its rivals, it tends to focus on capital growth rather than generating a high yield. Meanwhile its “philosophy of blending steady returns and demand-based risk” has resulted in good long-term returns.
This shows in the numbers. The trust’s shares have a dividend yield just shy of 4 per cent, relatively low compared with that of some peers. But it stands out versus the competition when it comes to five-year returns.
The fund looks to target ‘megatrends’, with assets deemed to be playing a role in the energy transition accounting for 40 per cent of the portfolio, digitalisation making up 25 per cent and ‘renewing essential infrastructure’ making up 22 per cent.
Like some other infrastructure funds it can be pretty concentrated: TCR, a Belgian owner and lessor of airport equipment, sits on a chunky 17 per cent weighting with Esvagt, an offshore shipping company, providing “safety and support at sea”, on 15 per cent.
We still see this as a solid option, and a good one for those who are happy to give up some potential yield elsewhere in the name of excellent total returns.
Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG)
Another big name in its sector, this trust has not shone in recent years. Like many of its peers, it fell pretty hard in 2024 and, so far, is sitting on a share price loss of more than 5 per cent for 2025.
Its troubles partly reflect the many moving parts that can affect renewable infrastructure trusts: in this case, weak wind generation in the first half of 2025 has dealt a bit of a blow to this portfolio, as well as some others.
This latest setback is a good reminder that, cheap as they are, the renewables trusts must grapple with issues such as these, as well as shifts in power prices and bond yields.
For those who can endure such unpredictability, we do still like TRIG as something of a one-stop shop. It diversifies across different geographies and technologies, for one. On the latter front, onshore wind accounts for 42 per cent of the portfolio, offshore wind 32 per cent, solar 14 per cent and ‘flexible capacity’ 6 per cent.
Investors might be tempted to chase higher yields and potential returns with more niche renewable names, but doing so can invite greater risk. And this trust looks attractively priced, with a discount of almost 30 per cent and a yield approaching 10 per cent.
TR Property Investment Trust (TRY)
The property sector has been pretty turbulent in recent years, with lots of consolidation and share price volatility to tend with. In that context we remain keen on this fund, which maintains a good degree of flexibility by predominantly investing in property shares rather than holding the physical assets themselves.
We should stress that any equity-focused strategy can have its ups and downs, and TRY shareholders have made a modest 3.5 per cent in 2025 so far, having lost around 4 per cent in 2024 (and made huge gains the previous year).
But this is a dynamic way to play a sector that has been under some strain in recent times. The trust also has some appeal to income-minded investors, with a share price dividend yield of around 5 per cent.
NEW: Custodian Property Income Reit (CREI)
We continue to rate Schroder Real Estate (SREI) from last year’s list, but following a suggestion from Winterflood analysts, we have chosen to highlight this fund instead in 2025.
As the analysts put it, the fund “offers a higher dividend yield that is also fully covered by earnings”, something that might turn heads.
Like many of the UK commercial property trusts, this diversifies by sector, but does favour the areas that have offered greater prospects and less uncertainty in the wake of the pandemic.
Some 41 per cent of the portfolio is in industrial assets, with retail warehouses accounting for 22 per cent, offices 16 per cent and high-street property 7 per cent.
Like many of its peers it trades on an enticing yield (of almost 8 per cent) and a discount of around 24 per cent.
DROPPED: Schroder Real Estate (SREI)
As mentioned, this exits the list to make way for a name with a punchier yield.
DROPPED: Tritax Big Box Reit (BBOX)
A specialist name seen as a good play on the ecommerce boom, this fund exits the list purely to make space for other options.
In an era where interest rates are higher, private equity specialists face some big questions over whether they can still generate good returns – particularly as, for the time being, some of their opportunities to sell out of positions via IPOs have disappeared.
The investment trusts operating in this space continue to trade on huge share price discounts to net asset value (NAV), but returns have been pretty mixed so far in 2025. Investors with a long-term approach may still be tempted, however, and we stick with our three very differentiated takes on the asset class.
HgCapital (HGT)
Normally a very solid name in its peer group, HgCapital focuses on businesses offering software as a service. This specialist approach has paid off handsomely over the years, with the trust generating big returns and its shares often trading pretty close to NAV.
Adverse currency movements and valuation contractions saw the trust post a pretty flat NAV update for the first half of 2025, however, and shareholders have suffered. Investors are down by around 7 per cent for 2025 so far, and the shares have drifted out to an 8.2 per cent discount to NAV.
We still like this trust’s specialist nature and its robust performance record. We also note that this discount might present a rare opportunity for some to buy in.
HarbourVest Global Private Equity (HVPE)
As we mentioned last year, this trust presents a striking contrast to the specialist HgCapital, given it diversifies widely via a mix of funds and direct investments.
Around half of the fund is in primary funds (money deployed in private equity funds at the time of launch), with 30 per cent in the ‘secondary’ investments left over from funds that have matured, and 21 per cent in direct investments made in companies alongside other investors.
HVPE shares have returned 4.4 per cent so far this year, having made an impressive 12.6 per cent in 2024.
Those trusts that put money into other private equity funds have tended to trade on even bigger discounts than peers, and HVPE is certainly going ‘cheap’ by that metric, on a discount of around 35 per cent.
With its wide diversification (be it by sector, type of investment or geography) we continue to see this fund as a steadier play on the private equity space. It’s a lower-maintenance option than a more concentrated fund, although with so many positions a more engaged shareholder might struggle to tell exactly what they are holding.
Oakley Capital Investments (OCI)
We conclude the list with an example of a concentrated private equity fund. Oakley Capital tends to have a limited number of direct investments in companies operating across four areas: technology, education, consumer and business services.
The fund’s focused approach, and its focus on sectors with good structural growth, has resulted in some very solid performance. Shareholders have enjoyed a return of almost 13 per cent for 2025 so far.
It’s also worth noting that the fund has finally left the LSE’s specialist fund segment and joined the main market, meaning it should be easier for retail investors to buy.
We continue to rate this fund but must still criticise its unsatisfying level of portfolio disclosure.
The trust’s monthly factsheets fail to detail its holdings, meaning investors have to trawl through its relatively convoluted annual reports in order to have any idea what they are actually buying.