How to become an Isa millionaire

As savings rates fall, and tax bills rise, it’s a key time to reassess your Isa strategy – doing it well could make you a millionaire.

At the last count, there were nearly 5,000 Isa millionaires in Britain, and the top 25 have pots averaging a whopping £11.3m.

But joining this exclusive club does not just happen overnight – it takes time and patience.

An Isa is an all-important tax shelter for your savings, where you will escape tax on dividends and capital gains tax on any profits when you sell, as well as income tax.

How much you invest, the investments you choose and their performance, are the main factors that will determine whether you can one day reach the £1m milestone.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed reforms to cash Isas will be introduced in 2027 for savers under 65, but there is no suggestion (at the moment) that stocks and shares Isas are under threat.

If anything, the Government wants to encourage more small investors to put their money into the stock market, particularly into London-listed shares and infrastructure.

Here, Telegraph Money explains how to invest your way to £1m.

Could I become an Isa millionaire?

To get to £1m, investors will need to max out their Isa each year, and their investments must provide a certain level of returns.

Someone starting from scratch today putting the full £20,000 annual allowance into a high-risk stocks and shares Isa could expect to reach millionaires’ row in under 21 years, assuming 8pc annual return

If you’re more comfortable with lower-risk investments, investing at this same rate could still get you to £1m – but it would take around 35 years, assuming 2pc annual returns.

The average Isa millionaire has £1.35m, investment company Plum found. But the top 25 Isa investors are sitting on pots averaging £8.8m.

Lord John Lee became an Isa millionaire more than 20 years ago and has written for Telegraph Money sharing his insights.

Plum’s Rajan Lakhani said Isa millionaire wealth was continuing to grow “even as other savings and investment products lose a little of their shine due to rising complexity and lower interest rates.

“A large part of the Isa’s appeal is the flexibility and liquidity it offers investors. In simple terms, you can crystallise your wealth whenever you choose and regardless of age, unlike, for example, pension holdings or buy-to-let properties.”

It’s not just a feat for the elderly, either – at brokers AJ Bell, the youngest Isa millionaire is just 33 – and the oldest is 100

How to become an Isa millionaire in four simple steps

There are four key habits that will help you become an Isa millionaire:

1. Maximise your contributions
2. Diversified investments
3. Regular portfolio reviews
4. Commitment to investing over the long-term

1. Maximise your contributions

To get to £1m as quickly as possible, the first step is to invest the maximum each year.

It is arguably easier to become an Isa millionaire today, with a £20,000 a year Isa allowance for savers (assuming you can afford to put away the maximum), compared to older investors who started out when Isas launched in 1999 with a £7,000 limit.

If you started saving today and the Isa limit remained at £20,000, it would take you 25 years to become an Isa millionaire, assuming an average annual return of 5pc.

The next key part of your strategy could be to invest early in the tax year. It means you will have up to an additional year invested, which will also help power portfolios in a rising market, as more of your assets are invested for longer.

2. Diversify investments

When it comes to selecting investments you’ll need a diverse, balanced mix according to your risk appetite. Buying individual shares can produce outstanding returns, but you are very exposed to a small number of companies (read on to discover the most popular shares held by Isa millionaires this year).

The alternative is investing in funds, either actively managed or “passive” where an algorithm mirrors a given index or industry. You might also wish to consider listed funds, also called investment trusts, which have been a good bet over the years.

At Interactive Investor, Britain’s second largest stockbroker, equities are the most popular type of holding among millionaires, accounting for 39pc of portfolios. Investment trusts come in a close second, at 34pc.

A total of 50 investment trusts would have made investors more than £1m if they had invested the full annual Isa allowance in the same company each year to 2024, according to research from the Association of Investment Companies, a trade body.

Investing the full Isa allowance each year from 1999 to 2024 – a total of £326,560 – and reinvesting the dividends into one of the four investment companies below would have generated a tax-free pot of over £2m at the end of January 2025.

These top four performing funds are: Allianz Technology Trust, HgCapital Trust, Polar Capital Technology and Scottish Mortgage. Among the common investment themes in these listed funds are technology and smaller companies.

While these figures are compelling, it is not advised to have all your money in one investment or one investment type.

The average Isa millionaire portfolio includes 23 holdings, according to AJ Bell.

3. Regular portfolio reviews

While choosing long-term investments is often a good strategy, it is still advisable to periodically assess and adjust your investment choices. As you approach retirement, your appetite for risk may decline.

Laura Suter, head of personal finance at AJ Bell, said: “Most Isa millionaires are in their 60s and 70s, illustrating the crucial impact of compound returns over the long-term. Nonetheless, nearly a fifth of Isa millionaires have hit the milestone before their 60th birthday.

“Astonishingly, a handful of extremely successful Isa investors in their 40s have racked up portfolios worth over £3m. Although it’s worth pointing out those with a sizeable portfolio at such a young age often tend to pursue a high conviction strategy focused on specific stocks, which won’t be for everyone.”

Ms Suter warned there was “no guaranteed recipe for success”.

“Some investors invest in highly diversified portfolios, while others have just a handful of positions. And while shares and trusts are especially popular among millionaires, there are plenty using funds too. The important thing is to invest in what you feel comfortable with and understand the level of risk you are taking in return for the potential reward.”

4. Commitment to investing over the long term

Investing over a long period is a tried and tested strategy.

The sooner you start saving the more you can put aside, and early contributions are the most valuable because they have the longest to grow.

Compounding will also boost returns. In simple terms, your money earns a return in the first year and both the original cash and the return benefit from any growth in the second year. In the third year your investment is further enhanced by any returns achieved. This snowball effect is known as compounding.

Experts insist that getting rich slowly is a smart strategy.

Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, says: “Isa investors don’t take enormous risks.

“Their focus is to consistently invest as much as possible of their annual allowance, as early as possible in the tax year, in a diverse and balanced portfolio. And they’ve done this every year for decades.”

What does an Isa millionaire’s portfolio look like?

Listed investment funds have powered Isa millionaire portfolios at Interactive Investor, and account for the largest share of Isa portfolios.

Alliance Witan and Scottish Mortgage are the two most common investment trust stocks found in the average Isa millionaire top 10 holdings.

Investment trusts, the oldest form of collective investment in the UK, have several advantages over unlisted funds, according to advocates. One of these is their ability to hold back some of the income they receive from their underlying investments in good years to pay out to investors when times are tougher.

They can borrow money to invest extra than that provided by their investors to boost performance in an upturn. Many also have great track records for paying dividends. The downside is they can be expensive to trade, with many brokers charging flat fees for the purchase of shares, while units in unlisted funds can be purchased for a negligible fee.

Many investors have had success from unlisted funds, however. Popular funds include Rathbone Global Opportunities, Lindsell Train Global Equity, Fundsmith Equity and Fidelity Special Situations.

FTSE blue chips are widely held in Isa millionaire accounts. They include Shell and BP; Lloyds Banking Group and Aviva; GSK; and National Grid.

How to become an Isa millionaire in four simple steps

How to become an Isa millionaire in four simple steps

There is one passive fund in the top 10 at brokers Interactive Investor. These funds use computer algorithms to automatically track an index such as the FTSE 100. A common thread here is being – almost – fully invested.

Camilla Esmund, senior manager at Interactive Investor, said: “The not-so-secret sauce of Interactive Investor’s Isa millionaires is staying invested and being diversified – the latter involves spreading money across different asset classes, sectors, and geographies.

“Their success requires time, patience, and benefiting from the magic of compounding. Plus, our Isa millionaires are savvy to the fees they are paying, making sure they aren’t paying a percentage fee that risks eating into their growing pots.”

Best stocks and shares Isa providers

This is one of the most common questions we get asked on the Telegraph Money desk.

The truth is that the best stockbroker, fund supermarket or “platform” to hold your Isa investments depends on several factors: how much money is in your Isa, what support you need, and the types of investment you plan to make.

You pay holding fees to your provider, which can be a percentage or a flat charge.

On top of this you will pay fund management charges, which will vary greatly – you can find this information on the fund’s factsheet.

While a percentage charge can be cheaper for those with smaller holdings, it can quickly start eating into your returns as your portfolio grows. It’s a good idea to revisit your fees regularly and check whether you could get a better deal elsewhere.

These Solid 11% Payouts Are Cheap (Thank Kevin Warsh)

Brett Owens, Chief Investment Strategist
Updated: June 23, 2026

New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s hawkish debut has given us a “3-stage” plan for 12% dividends now—and strong gains later.

Here’s how I see that playing out, plus two tickers we can use to grab that reliable double-digit income stream.

3 Reasons Why My Falling-Rate Call Still Stands

First up, I haven’t budged on my call for lower rates. But these things rarely happen in a straight line. In fact, had the Iran conflict not occurred, we’d almost certainly be talking about rate cuts today.

But oil prices are falling as I write this, and the International Energy Agency just predicted a supply glut next year. And despite all the noise around the current deal to end the war, it will end. Neither side can afford any other outcome.

The drop in energy prices is the first, and most immediate, stage of our “falling rates” setup.

The second? Warsh himself, who Trump has charged with cutting rates. My take: He’ll start calling for cuts as soon as he can justify it. When push comes to shove, I expect Warsh will choose self-preservation.

Third (and more important) is AI, which provides a sweeping level of automation to white-collar work that is highly deflationary.

In the 1990s, the Internet acted as a similar “deflator” on prices. The move from snail mail to email and from fax machines to web browsers made businesses wildly more efficient, which kept a lid on consumer prices—and a floor under bond prices (hint!). They rallied throughout the entire decade.

For now, though, bonds are hated. Which is fine by us! We’re happy to take the opportunity to scoop up the best closed-end funds (CEFs) holding them while we can do so at some nice discounts.

If rate cuts happen sooner, great. The discount on a buy made today will snap shut, giving us price gains on top of our 12% payout. If it takes longer, fine. We’ll collect our 12% divvies in peace, confident we got in at a bargain.

CEF #1: The “Bond God’s” 12.2% Payout

The 12.2%-paying DoubleLine Income Solutions Fund (DSL) is a holding of my Contrarian Income Report service that’s done exactly what we’ve wanted it to since we bought it in April 2016: deliver steady income.

On a total-return basis, it’s up 83.2% as I write this—solid in a volatile time for bonds (and everything else!). In that span, the massive payout has only moved lower once, in the pandemic-rattled market of 2021, when DSL had the chance to snap up bond bargains as rates plunged.

Since then, DSL’s manager, Jeffrey Gundlach (a.k.a. the “Bond God”) has kept the monthly divvies flowing, with two healthy special dividends, too:

Source: Income Calendar

Fast-forward to today and overwrought inflation worries have given us another sweet buy window on this smartly run fund.

As I write this, DSL trades at a 6.5% discount to net asset value (NAV, or the value of its underlying portfolio). That’s a level we haven’t seen this consistently since the last days of 2022, a year in which inflation hit 8%!

Of course, the CPI is less than half that now, and back then, we didn’t have AI, and its deflationary impact, on the radar:

Warsh Drops DSL’s Discount …

That’s way too cheap for a fund run by a proven manager like Gundlach, who’s got a wide mandate to scour the credit market on our behalf. The discount’s widening has also pushed the yield up to that sweet 12.2%.

… and Gives Its 12% Yield Another Kick

DSL is a textbook contrarian play on today’s overdone rate worries. We’re happy to take the opportunity to grab this steady 12% payer at 2022 prices.

CEF No. 2: A Discount Disguised as a Premium (With Another 12% Payout)

Many first-level investors ignore the PIMCO Corporate & Income Opportunity Fund (PTY) because they think it’s expensive. And to be fair, it does appear so: As I write this, this 12.1%-payer trades at a 3.25% premium to NAV.

But they’re missing the point.

You see, PTY is a PIMCO fund, and that firm, founded by legendary bond investor Bill Gross, holds a stable of CEFs that always trade at premiums, and usually much wider ones than this.

That includes PTY, whose premium has averaged 12.1% in the last year and 20.7% (!) in the last five. Today’s 3.25% premium is also the lowest it’s been, in any kind of sustained way, in the last eight years.

Think DSL Is Cheap? PTY Says “Hold My Beer”

One reason why the fund’s premium has shrunk is likely because of the long effective maturity on its credit assets: 8.5 years. That’s important because longer-duration bonds fall when rates rise and do better when rates fall. But even if rates do rise a bit from here, I think this once-in-eight-year valuation has more than priced that in.

What’s more, the crowd is ignoring PTY’s effective leverage-adjusted duration of 4.3 years. That positions it for gains on lower rates without adding too much risk if rates rise. And PTY, like DSL, delivers a rock-solid monthly payout:

Source: Income Calendar

PTY’s payout, also like that of DSL, saw a slight cut during COVID, but it’s otherwise held steady for years, with regular special dividends (the spikes and dips above) that have more than rewarded investors for sticking around.

So where does all this leave us? As the prospect of lower rates comes into view, PTY’s premium looks set to pop back to its usual double-digit level.

DSL, too, will be in for a repricing, with its discount narrowing from today’s depths. That sets up both funds for gains, and investors to collect their rich dividends as their oversold valuations correct—and beyond.

The 1 Way to Retire on Dividends Alone (Without Investing a Fortune)

These two funds show us what’s possible when you zero in on the right high-yield investments—particularly those that pay you every single month.

To cut to the chase, they give you what I consider the “retirement holy grail”: the ability to clock out on dividends alone—without having to invest in the seven figures to do it!

As with DSL and PTY, though, these discounts are likely to compress as the crowd comes around on falling rates.

Wall Street Says “Sell in May.” We Say “Buy in July” (2 Tickers on Our List)

Brett Owens, Chief Investment Strategist
Updated: June 30, 2026

Sell in May? Ha! Try “buy in July.”

Truth is, summer is the best time to troll for dividend deals—especially July. We’re going to “back up the truck” on two tickers in a sec.

Why July?

Because it’s the strongest month of the year for stocks, according to a 2024 report from the Carson Group, a financial-advisory firm. Here’s the upshot: Over the 20 years leading up to July 2024, the S&P 500 rose 2.3% on average.

And that’s just the average. Many years saw bigger gains than that.

This is our short-term play.

On the horizon, we’ve got the midterms. We’re not going to linger on that dreaded event. Suffice it to say, the vote is not what we’re interested in—it’s what traditionally comes in the year after it: stock-market gains.

A May study by RBC Wealth Management sets the table here. Going back to 1932, it found that the year following the midterms was the strongest in the four-year presidential cycle, with S&P 500 rising 14% on average.

The bottom line for us is that we’ve got a nice setup for gains this summer, plus another price pop setting up for 2027.

And despite what the headlines say, inflation (and interest rates) will come down. We’re already seeing it in oil prices, and the International Energy Agency (IEA) actually forecasts an oil glut next year.

Oversupply of the goo is fuel (sorry, couldn’t resist!) for growth. It’s an inflation-killer, too.

But we don’t want to be naïve. There’s certainly concern out there. But at times like these, it pays to remember the old stock-market adage: Stocks climb a wall of worry.

They’re certainly doing that now! And my indicators suggest they’ll keep it up. That makes now a good time to buy. Here are two dividend-growth plays to put on your list.

ITW: Hated By Wall Street, Loved By Dividend Investors

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) is one of those stocks analysts hate. That’s because it’s basically an umbrella name covering a range of businesses that aren’t really connected.

Kitchen ovens and fryers? ITW makes ’em under its Hobart and Vulcan brands. Gear for testing electronics? It makes that, too. Fasteners and components for cars? Check.

It’s enough to drive Wall Street—which loves a “clean” single-product story—batty! According to the WSJ, and only two analysts covering the stock rate it a buy right now, with 11 at hold, two “underweight” and five sells. Perfect. We love disliked stocks like these because as they beat low expectations, more analysts come onboard, creating a feedback loop that boosts its price.

And there’s every reason for that to happen.

For one, the company follows what it calls the 80/20 model, where it zeroes in on its biggest/most profitable clients or products—the top 20% or so—which the company sees as providing the bulk (or 80%) of the company’s sales. That tight focus keeps margins high: in Q1, operating margins rose 60 basis points, to 25.4%.

Revenue also jumped a tidy 5% and EPS gained 12%. And management raised full-year guidance by $0.10, to between $11.10 to $11.50. The stock trades at a reasonable 24-times the midpoint of that range.

Which brings me to another reason why ITW is overlooked: the dividend. As I write this, shares yield 2.4%, which sounds okay—until you look at the company’s payout history:

ITW’s “Industrial Strength” Dividend Magnet

As you can see, over the last decade, ITW has nearly tripled its dividend. You can also see what I call the “Dividend Magnet” in action: The share price has climbed in lockstep. That gap on the right side represents further upside.

That means, of course, that an investor who bought back then is not yielding 2.4% today. They’re pocketing 6.2% (and climbing) on their buy instead. And that’s before we account for the 17% of the company’s float that management has bought back in that time, throwing an additional lift under the stock.

ITW, in other words, is the picture of shareholder friendliness, which makes it worth our attention now.

Deere: Buy for the Construction Boom, Stay for the Farm Revival

Deere & Co. (DE) is sitting in a “sweet spot” for us to buy now.

For starters, the company, a holding my Hidden Yields service, boasts a booming construction-equipment segment, with management forecasting a 20% sales gain, plus 10% to 12% operating-margin expansion for this business, in 2026.

That’s the good news.

The drag? The segment of its agricultural business focusing on large farms, where sales slumped 14% in Q1, and management sees slipping 5% to 10% this year, according to the company’s latest earnings presentation.

But there are green shoots in these numbers, namely that corn and wheat prices have been firming up in the last few weeks, according to the two Teucrium ETFs tracking them, and management itself has said it sees now as the bottom of the ag cycle:

Corn, Wheat Prices “Plant” a Bottom

That’s a nice window for us: We never chase a boom. We buy the bottom instead. And as with ITW, we’re looking at a stock that Wall Street doesn’t understand.

Beyond that, high fuel and fertilizer costs, as well as high borrowing costs, have been squeezing farmers, but fuel costs look set to trend lower (see the oil glut mentioned above), and a decline in overall inflation should slow the rise of other costs, as well.

Meantime, as with ITW, Deere’s share price has been following the furrow plowed by its dividend—a trend I expect to continue as the ag cycle turns and global infrastructure spending (including, yes, on data centers) keeps Deere’s construction-equipment business booming:

Another High-Powered Dividend Magnet

A final upside driver for the payout? Deere’s low payout ratio, with the divvie accounting for just 47% of the last 12 months of free cash flow. That’s very manageable and lends itself to strong payout growth, especially in this “sweet spot” in the ag-growth cycle.

These “Dividend Magnet” Winners Are Our Top 5 July Buys

The Dividend Magnet is more than just a pattern—it’s a proven way to build wealth. It drives price upside. And it lets us “stair step” to those 6%+ yields on cost our long-term ITW holders have booked.

A Monkey Puzzle tree, is a slow growing tree, every branch is one year’s growth. How much growth is weather dependent but the direction is always up.

Your Snowball.

Currently market conditions are favourable as you can invest and get yields above 7%

You may only have a modest amount to start investing but little and often wins the race.

Note the difference time and an extra 2% yield, makes to your Snowball.

Six investment funds for beginner investors© Getty Images

Six investment funds for beginner investors

Story by Dan McEvoy

Investing seems complex when you first start, but picking the right investment funds for beginners can make it much more straightforward, and give you an easy on-ramp to building your wealth over the long term.

So if you’re wondering how to begin investing, picking out one or two top funds could be a great place to start.

“Investing is a measured and long-term process,” says Rob Morgan, chief investment analyst at Charles Stanley. “It involves taking risk but doing so in a way that minimises and mitigates it, to more reliably harness the growth available across global economies and individual companies.”

Investment funds are a particularly good option for beginners because they offer a convenient way to manage the level of risk you’re taking. Investing in a fund spreads your money, and therefore your risk, across dozens of different companies.

There are funds for almost any type of investment, from sustainable funds that can grow your wealth while making a positive impact, to AI funds that track the world’s most cutting-edge technology.

Investment funds explained for beginners

There are several types of funds, including:

• Open-ended funds;
• Closed-ended funds (or, more commonly, ‘investment trusts’);
• Exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Each has its advantages and disadvantages. But the simplest and most relevant for beginner investors are ETFs.

An ETF is a fund that trades as a single share on a stock exchange. Its price changes while stock markets are open in line with changes in the price of the assets it tracks. You can buy and sell it in a stocks and shares ISA, just as if it was a stock.

There are ETFs for almost everything, but beginners might be particularly interested in ETF index funds. These track a specific index, such as the UK’s FTSE 100 or the US’s S&P 500.

“If you’re not sure which companies you wish to own, you may want to consider a tracker fund, or an ETF,” says Claire Exley, head of advice and guidance at J.P. Morgan Personal Investing. “These will allow you to hold a small amount of, for example, every company listed in the FTSE 100.”

Index funds are usually low-cost: because they just track an index, there’s not much to pay by way of management fees.

Best of all, they usually outperform more active stock-picking strategies. AJ Bell’s December 2025 Manager versus Machine report found that only 20% of actively-managed funds (IE, those where the manager decides when to buy and sell stocks, rather than just tracking an index) outperformed a passive alternative over the last five years.

Three types of investment funds for beginners to consider

If you are drawing up a shortlist of the first funds to add to your investment portfolio, investment platform AJ Bell breaks the available fund universe down into three categories in terms of the kinds of investments they make.

Global equity tracker funds

Funds that track the global stock market are a great way to get started in investing without having to decide on any specific region or industry.

“These funds provide low-cost exposure to companies around the world, with representation from a wide range of sectors,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.

Four of the best-known global equities (another word for ‘stocks’) indices are MSCI World, MSCI All Country World, FTSE World and FTSE Developed World. Tracker funds following these indices should register the same price movements (or very close to them) over any given timeframe.

Some of the most popular global stock tracker funds on AJ Bell’s platform are:

Fund name
HSBC FTSE All World Index
Fidelity Index World
Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index

Source: AJ Bell, based on net flows from 13 April 2025 to 12 April 2026

Global bond tracker funds

If you’re looking for a more cautious approach to getting started in investment funds, you could look at bond funds instead.

“When shares fall, bonds often fall less and recover faster, helping to smooth the overall investment journey,” said Coatsworth. “That might suit someone in their 40s or early 50s approaching retirement, those already in retirement, or more anxious individuals.”

There are typically three types of bond that bond funds invest in – corporate bonds, government bonds (such as gilts) or a combination of the two (these are known as strategic bond funds).

Some popular bond funds for beginner investors on AJ Bell are:

Fund name	SEDOL
Vanguard Global Corporate Bond Index	BDFB5M5
Vanguard Global Bond Index	B50W2R1
HSBC Global Government Bond ETF (LON:HGVG)	BN91H36

Source: AJ Bell, based on net flows from 13 April 2025 to 12 April 2026.

Multi-asset funds

Most portfolios combine bonds and equities, as well as other types of asset. You can do this yourself by buying funds specialising in different investments, but a more convenient approach is to buy a multi-asset fund which acts as a self-contained portfolio in its own right.

“The more cautious you are, the greater the proportion you might want in bonds,” said Coatsworth. “However, there’s such a thing as being too cautious. Those with time to ride out the ups and downs of the stock market might want to avoid having too much in bonds as a proportion of their overall portfolio given the returns might be much lower than a more equity-weighted portfolio.”

Six funds for beginners

With input from Charles Stanley’s Morgan, we’ve picked out six investment funds for beginners, which we’ve shared below.

Fidelity Index World

Risk level: medium-high

A low-cost, cheap tracker fund is a great starting point to gain exposure to a market or sector, giving you convenient ownership of all or most of the companies that make up that market’s index.

Fidelity Index World is a good fund for beginners to consider because it provides a convenient tracker for the global stock market.

Personal Assets Trust

Risk level: medium-low

Personal Assets Trust (LON:PNL) is a multi-asset investment trust that sets out primarily to avoid losing money in inflation-adjusted terms (making it a less risky investment compared to funds that are more concerned with growing wealth than preserving it).

The portfolio comprises four main asset types: equities, bonds, cash and gold.

This has proved a resilient combination. The returns from each of these asset classes tend to rise and fall independently of one another, meaning that it can hold up even in changing market conditions.

Vanguard LifeStrategy Funds

Risk level: variable

The advantage of this multi-asset fund range is that it has several different funds, each with a different risk profile, so investors can select the one that best suits them.

Interactive Investor includes three in its quick-start fund range for beginner investors: 20% Equity, 60% Equity and 80% Equity, though the full range also includes 40% and 100% equity options. The remainder of the portfolio is invested in bonds.

As a rule of thumb, the higher the percentage of equities, the higher the risk profile, and the higher the potential returns.

Royal London Short Term Money Market Fund

Risk level: low

Money market funds invest your money as if it was cash, but they tend to generate returns just above the Bank of England base rate.

Interactive Investor includes Royal London’s Short Term Money Market Fund in its quick-start range, and characterises it as very low risk. This is a very cautious option: your investment is very unlikely to fall in value with a money market fund, but it’s also unlikely to grow much beyond inflation.

M&G Global Dividend

Risk level: medium-high

Dividends are the payments that companies make to their shareholders. Ultimately, it is dividend payments – or the expectation of future dividend payments – that gives shares their value.

M&G Global Dividend harnesses the power of dividend stocks, with a global perspective. It holds a wide variety of companies and could be of particular interest to investors seeking a rising income from their investments.

Scottish Mortgage

Risk level: high

Scottish Mortgage (LON:SMT) is one of the best-known investment trusts for innovation-led growth investing.

Morgan believes that anyone taking a long-term approach to investing should consider investing in a fund that looks for long-term growth through technological innovation. Their long-term perspective ought to let them ride out short-term volatility and reap the long-term rewards.

Scottish Mortgage invests in private companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX or TikTok owner ByteDance, as well as those listed on global stock markets, offering opportunities that are otherwise hard for beginner investors to access.

Trust Intelligence from Kepler Partners 

Fund Profile

The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG)19 June 2026

Disclaimer

Disclosure – Non-Independent Marketing Communication

This is a non-independent marketing communication commissioned by The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG). The report has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and is not subject to any prohibition on the dealing ahead of the dissemination of investment research.

 Overview Analyst’s View 

Let’s go back to basics with TRIG: it’s a utility scale energy generator.

Overview

The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG) has a £2.9bn diversified portfolio of renewable energy infrastructure assets spread across five countries and four technologies. The UK is the largest single country exposure at 59%, along with four other European countries. TRIG develops, constructs, operates and optimises assets across onshore and offshore wind, solar PV and battery storage and, in taking on the whole value chain from development, can sustain and extend the asset life of its portfolio without having to periodically raise fresh equity. There is high visibility over revenues with 68% fixed and 56% inflation-linked over the next ten years.

TRIG currently yields 10% and the dividend is fully covered. TRIG’s dividend for the year ending 31/12/2026 is targeted to be held at the same level as for 2025. This follows discussions between the board and shareholders and is a recognition that the dividend is already at a very attractive level. Nevertheless, dividend cover is expected to rise over the coming years, with the long-term objective of normalising at 1.1 to 1.2×.

One factor in TRIG’s high yield is the 29% discount. TRIG and its peer group have traded at wide discounts from the outset of the higher interest rate era, but in the Dividend section we look at how wide the spread between TRIG’s yield and government bonds is, suggesting that while, yes, its share price is sensitive to interest rates, the spread over bond yields has been stretched to its widest point since TRIG’s 2013 IPO. As we see in the Portfolio section, TRIG’s NAV is much less sensitive to interest rates though.

TRIG has a comprehensive capital allocation approach in response to the discount, with a £150m share buyback programme and targeted capital recycling.

Analyst’s View

Over the last few years, it has been very easy to get overwhelmed by all the detail when it comes to renewable energy infrastructure generally and TRIG specifically. And to focus on the big macro factor, interest rates, that has been the main influence on share prices, together with shifts in regulatory policy, the ‘Trump’ factor and power prices. But behind all of that, we find it very interesting that, at a point in time when global energy supply chains have just undergone perhaps one of the largest shocks in history, TRIG, which of course sells energy, is trading at a level where its dividend yield is at the widest spread over UK government bonds that it has been since its IPO. While we follow the short-term logic of investors taking a cautious stance on markets, the irony is striking. There will be, and already is, plenty of rhetoric about how the UK must do more to extract its own gas and oil resources, and whether that’s practical or not it doesn’t change the fact that renewables are not a small side hustle for the UK and other European countries, but an integral part of the energy mix.

TRIG’s big advantage in all of this is its diversification, scale and capacity to become self-sustaining. With wide discounts, raising fresh equity to acquire new operational assets is currently off the agenda, and development and construction have become an important part of the mix. TRIG has the scale to maintain dividend cover while allocating capital to generate higher returns from reinvestment and construction. The 29% discount therefore looks to us to be a remarkable opportunity.

Bull

• True utility-scale diversified portfolio of assets
• Development and construction pipeline could generate higher returns and extend the portfolio life
• Wide discount and yield spread over government bonds

Bear

• TRIG uses gearing, which can amplify losses as well as gains, albeit gearing is lower than average for the sector
• A high proportion of fixed revenues, with over 55% inflation-linked, mean dividend growth may be lower than inflation
• Political risk over energy policy has moved a notch higher in the UK but TRIG’s country diversification helps mitigate this

Dividend Overview Analyst’s View 

Dividend

TRIG currently yields 10% and further below we chart how this relates to government bond yields. The long-term aim to pay dividends covered 1.1 to 1.2×, with any excess over this used to reinvest in the portfolio. 2024 and 2025’s dividend cover dipped below this goal, to just over 1×. In discussions between TRIG’s board and shareholders there was recognition that the dividend level is already high and the target dividend for the financial year ending 31/12/2026 is the same as for 2025, 7.55p. Over the medium term cover is expected to increase back up to the target of 1.1–1.2×. TRIG has a high proportion, 68%, of its revenues fixed over the next ten years, which gives a strong underpinning to the dividend.

The chart below shows TRIG’s dividends since its first full year, 2014. Although as noted, a high proportion of TRIG’s revenues are fixed, the dividend has grown at about 2% p.a. since the start of this series, highlighting that TRIG is more than just a ‘bond proxy’. TRIG has paid over 80 pence of dividends over this period, compared to its IPO price of 100p.

DIVIDEND PER SHARE

Source: TRIG

The next chart looks at TRIG’s dividend yield compared to the UK’s ten-year government benchmark bond yield. In some ways this chart is more compelling than looking at the Discount and should certainly be viewed alongside it. TRIG and its peer group’s share prices are interest-rate sensitive, and this sensitivity is the main factor that has driven the discount. The chart below puts that in a different way, looking at both TRIG’s dividend yield, the benchmark yield and, with the blue shaded area, the spread between the two. The spread is currently as wide as it has been since TRIG’s IPO in 2013.

Whereas the comparison with government bond yields is not perfect, given that TRIG owns equity and its dividend is not fixed, the comparison is valid as it’s generally accepted that TRIG’s discount is driven by the higher yields available from ‘risk-free’ government bonds compared to five years ago. Whereas the time of writing, April 2026, is a deeply unsettling one for bond and equity markets, we note that there is a certain irony in global energy price spikes being accompanied by TRIG’s spread over 10-year bonds reaching its highest point ever. It’s sometimes easy to get lost in the jargon that surrounding the renewables energy infrastructure sector, but taking things back to fundamentals, TRIG is an energy company that generates and sells electricity.

YIELD SPREAD OVER UK TEN-YEAR BENCHMARK

Source: Morningstar
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results

I’ve bought back into TRIG, 6134 shares for £4,500.00

Previous TRIG profit for the SNOWBAL £1,440

On 23 May 2016, the VanEck Morningstar Developed Markets Dividend Leaders UCITS ETF (TDIV) listed for the first time. Ten years later, it has done what every dividend strategy aspires to do – and what only a few actually deliver: distribute income every single year, grow that income over time, and compound capital through a full market cycle.

To mark the anniversary, we’ve put together ten figures that tell the story: sequenced as performance, income, stability, and portfolio characteristics. A few highlights below.

Ten years, ten figures – a preview

A portfolio built around developed-markets dividend leaders, with a structurally lower US weighting than most global equity ETFs. A positioning that has, on more than one occasion, proved its worth.

performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
**As of 22 May 2026.

Main Risk Factors: Equity market risk, foreign currency risk. Investors must consider all the fund’s characteristics or objectives as detailed in the prospectus or related documents before making an investment decision. Please refer to the sustainability-related disclosures in the document section to the KID and the Prospectus for other information and applicable risks before investing.

Total return of +223.9% since inception

52% of initial capital returned in cash.

Ten years of uninterrupted distributions.

A yield on cost of 6.92% for day-one investors

A good number of small-cap funds come with an edge on the income front.

30th June 2026

by Dave Baxter from interactive investor

Investing comes with its fair share of cliches, and enough of those apply to the world of smaller company investing.

Those who like to back small caps will most likely know that it can be pretty risky, can require more thorough research than simply buying blue chips, and that it should (in theory) deliver better returns over a long period.

That’s all well-rehearsed material but small-cap investing can offer some surprises, too.

Right now this is most notable on the income front: a decent number of UK small-cap funds are throwing off eye-catching yields.

That makes sense in some respects: companies with high growth rates can end up generating lots of spare cash and some of this might be funnelled into dividends. 

But it’s worth being aware of this trait, for growth and income investors alike. 

Those in the first camp might be keen to plough any payouts back into investments that can compound over time rather than sitting on any income they receive, while dividend hunters might be interested in what small caps can do for them. 

The second point is especially pertinent given that the yields on large-cap focused UK income funds have fallen back in the wake of strong total returns.

Here, we showcase the UK small-cap funds with the chunkiest yields, the story behind those metrics, and what kind of portfolios have made it into the list.

Some familiar faces

Our table lists those dedicated small-cap funds with a yield of at least 4.5% – well in excess of the roughly 3% on offer from the FTSE 100, and comfortably ahead of the average of 3.9% from the Association of Investment Companies’ (AIC) UK Equity Income sector. 

Many of the names in said sector will have a decent slug of exposure to blue-chip shares although it’s worth noting the highest-yielding name, Chelverton UK Dividend Trust Ord  SDV

currently yielding 7.2%, does look further down the market cap spectrum.

The names in the table, by contrast, do not have a stated commitment to income above all else. But they are churning out some big dividends for now, which might turn heads. .

However, it is worth noting that a much talked about potential catalyst for a pick-up in performance – lower interest rates – appears off the table. Instead, the base rate is expected to remain at 3.75% for the foreseeable future.   

Fund	Dividend yield (%)		One-year total return (%) to 24/06/26	Five-year return (%)
Marwyn Value Investors Ord MVI0.3	6.5		28.2	70.1
Montanaro UK Smaller Companies Ord MTU0.0	6.1		8.3	-15.8
Athelney Trust Ord ATY0.0	6.1		1.3	-17.2
Aberforth Geared Value & Income Ord AGVI3.	5.6		15.4	N/A
VT Downing Small & Mid-Cap Income Inc (B625QM8)	4.7		-5.6	6.9
Artemis UK Future Leaders Ord AFL0.1	4.5		-7.1	-33
JPMorgan UK Small Cap Growth & Income JUGI0.	4.5		2.1	-3.3

Source: AIC as at 22/06/26 and Downing factsheet. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

The first name in the list, Marwyn Value Investors Ord  MVI

has set itself apart from the crowd in multiple ways, if not all of those are definitely appealing.

In its own words, the team looks “to work in partnership with exceptional industry executives who bring long-standing industry experience and operational expertise”.

They often use the “buy and build” approach of investing in a business and then acquiring and merging it with smaller, complementary companies. 

Marwyn favours companies with little debt and a focus on reinvesting capital into the business.

In practice, as we have discussed before, this is a fund that has performed very strongly but takes some big bets. 

As the table shows, the fund has done extremely well over a 12-month period, in no small part thanks to the enormous returns made by European telecoms company Zegona Communications  ZEG

The shares have returned around 140% over 12 months, and as Marwyn notes the company has enjoyed various wins, from a special dividend to a share buyback programme. 

But the fund is heavily exposed to its top positions: Zegona makes up roughly a third of the portfolio, InvestAcc Group Ltd Ordinary Shares  INAC

accounts for 22.1% and AdvancedAdvT Ltd Ordinary Shares  ADVT makes up 16.6%.

As we have noted before, Montanaro UK Smaller Companies Ord  MTU

which yields just more than 6%, takes a very different tack. 

It has a well-diversified portfolio, has had a much more mixed track performance record as of late in part due to its quality growth investment style, and follows an enhanced dividend policy where it pays a quarterly dividend equivalent to 1.5% of net asset value (NAV). 

An enhanced approach

Enhanced dividend policies, where trusts can use reserves or capital to partly fund their payouts and where many also look to pay out a set proportion of net asset value (NAV) each year, have become much more widespread in recent years. That’s one way trusts are trying to appeal to a wider base of investors and fight discounts.

Montanaro UK Smaller Companies is in that list as mentioned, and it’s notable that it boosted its dividend when activist investor Saba Capital was lurking on its shareholder register. 

But a good number of other names in the table also use an enhanced dividend policy of some form, something that makes sense if smaller companies aren’t always the most consistent with such payouts

In keeping with many of its stablemates, JPMorgan UK Small Cap Growth & Income  JUGI

 intends to pay at least 4% of NAV to investors, as based on a valuation at the end of the preceding financial year. 

Artemis UK Future Leaders Ord  AFL

which came under the management of Artemis last year, has its own 4% target that can be bolstered using capital. 

Enhanced dividend policies can be useful in that they allow funds to provide dividends without limiting their investments to companies with high yields – although there are risks that the payouts will falter if the NAV drops.

Note that Athelney Trust Ord  ATY

 Aberforth Geared Value & Income Ord  AGVI

 and VT Downing Small & Mid-Cap Income Inc (B625QM8) (the only open-ended fund in the list) have a more traditional approach to generating dividends.

Performance woes

UK small and mid-cap shares have had a rocky few years and that’s reflected in the performance of some of these funds. Many are down, or sitting on lacklustre returns, over one and five-year periods.

Marwyn Value Investors has bucked this trend, while the Montanaro team has seen a decent pick-up in performance over one year. Another strong performer over one year, meanwhile, is Aberforth Geared Value & Income

As the name suggests the fund’s managers follow a value investment style, and like many a small-cap fund they actually have a big allocation to mid-cap shares, with 60% of the fund in the FTSE 250. By sector it’s industrials, financials and consumer discretionary shares that are best represented in the fund.

The fund’s position sizes are pretty limited, with metal flow engineering specialist and top holding Vesuvius  VSVS

 accounting for just 4.7% of the portfolio. 

But some well-known financials are in the list too, from the now controversy-mired Rathbones Group  RAT

 to Quilter Ordinary Shares  QLT

 and Jupiter Fund Management JUP.

The RGL of the hero from Sherwood Forest
Considering the rent update from Regional REIT – RGL
The Oak Bloke
Jun 30

It was the 18th June when OB pick for 26 RGL announced £1.1m of new rent. This enigmatic news in a riddle wrapped up in an enigma was so well hidden from the market that RGL went up by zero.

Why do I believe this is a Quadruple-Win?
This single deal improves Regional REIT’s bottom line in three distinct ways:

New Revenue Stream: They have secured £1,075,000 per year in new rent.

Cost Eradication: Because these buildings were 100% vacant, Regional REIT was paying £700,000 per year just in “void costs” (business rates, security, basic maintenance, insurance). This cost now drops to zero as the tenant takes on those costs as a charge through.

Capital appreciation: £5m upgrade of facilities.

The fourth win is not RGL’s… because the Client wins too. Paying just £7.35 per square foot is a super cheap price. No wonder they were prepared to invest £5m to upgrade the space. Going rate for Nottingham on Rightmove is about double that price. £13m/sq.ft is the cheapest I can see. Or can you find plenty of office space for £1 a square foot? In Poundland maybe? Or on the Hindenburg? More on that later.

In 2026 based on the YTD £15m of disposals at an average 90% vacant and this Newstead Unit 1 and 2 deal (~£10m of property) which were 100% vacant (and presumably part of the Capex to Core?) that equates to approximately one sixth of RGL’s irrecoverable costs (in 2025).

The Net Swing: By passing on a £700k cost and gaining a £1.075m income, this single deal represents a massive ~£1.78 million per annum positive annual swing for the company’s cash flow. Overall an estimated movement of around £3m at the half year.

Compared with £22.2m cash from ops in FY25 that’s a potential 8%-13% improvement to cash gen.

A Free £5 Million Property Upgrade
The announcement notes that the offices were rented in an “unrefurbished condition” and the tenant is spending £5 million of their own money on improvements.

Usually, landlords have to pay for expensive refurbishments to attract tenants.

Here, the tenant is footing the entire bill. This immediately increases the capital value of Regional REIT’s portfolio without Regional REIT spending a single penny.

1 & 2 Newstead are each listed as below £5m so that is approximately a 50% gain on the value of the property subject to valuation rules.

High-Quality Lease Terms
The structure of the 20-year lease is highly favourable to RGL:

Long-Term Stability: A 20-year lease is exceptionally long for modern office spaces, guaranteeing long-term income. While there are “breaks” (opportunities for the tenant to cancel) at years 10 and 15, securing at least 10 years locked-in is a great result.

Inflation Protection: The lease includes five-yearly RPI (Retail Price Index) rent reviews. This means every five years, the rent will automatically increase to keep up with inflation, protecting the landlord’s real returns.

Strong ESG Standing: Both buildings already hold an EPC B rating, which is highly energy efficient. This protects the landlord from looming, stricter environmental regulations that are currently forcing other landlords to spend millions retrofitting older buildings.

The Strategic Takeaway
The CEO’s commentary highlights a broader trend: because developers aren’t building new regional offices, there is a supply shortage.

Regional REIT is proving that even “raw,” unrefurbished office space is highly valuable if it’s in the right location (like right off the M1 motorway). By getting a manufacturing tenant to lock in for 20 years and inject £5m of their own capital into the buildings, Regional REIT has successfully de-risked these assets while significantly boosting their dividend-paying capacity.

Location, Location, Location – the Portfolio Breakdown
According to Regional REIT’s latest property and strategy assessments, approximately 80% of its portfolio is classified as being in the right location and meeting modern occupier preferences (or capable of being enhanced to do so).

With a total portfolio of 110 properties, I was curious as to the breakdown of what is in the “right location” versus what is being phased out is distributed as follows:

The Core Portfolio (~80% / approx. 90 properties): These are the high-quality assets located in major regional UK hubs outside the M25 motorway (such as the Nottingham offices mentioned in the update). These properties benefit from excellent transport links, strong regional tenant demand, and are being actively retained to drive long-term rent and capital growth.

The Non-Core Portfolio (~20% / approx. 20 properties): These are properties that no longer fit the “right location” or quality criteria due to structural shifts in the office market. Regional REIT is aggressively selling off these underperforming or non-core assets to reduce debt and reinvest capital into its core regional assets.

Analysis of Postcodes:
This was an interesting exercise. Analysis shows of RGL 112 properties (as at 31/12/25):

a/ 41 are within 0.5 miles of a railway station.

b/ 50 are within 1.5 miles of a Motorway Junction

c/ 21 are outliers i.e. neither of these. Let’s examine those.

c1. Regional High Street Retail Assets
A few assets are located deep inside historic regional town centers. Motorways are miles away and no railway station serves them, but they are close to the town’s primary shopping footfall, their specific physical entrances sit just outside our strict half-mile rail-station boundary:

27/29 King St, Belper (6.5 miles to M1 link)

Shrewsbury Arms Shopping Mall, Rugeley (9.8 miles to M6 Toll)

High Street/Bank Street, Dumfries (13.1 miles to A74(M))

c2. Deep Urban / Infill Corporate Offices
These are offices located in the suburban areas of major cities (like Leeds or Birmingham). Their nearest motorway junction is physically further than 1.5 miles away, and their walk to the central train terminal spans between 0.6 and 1.2 miles.

Trinity Court, Newport Road, Cardiff (3.8 miles to M4 / 0.6 miles to Cardiff Queen St)

31 Foleshill Road, Coventry (4.3 miles to M6 / 0.6 miles to Coventry Central)

Bennett House, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent (3.8 miles to M6 / 0.9 miles to Stoke Station)

Global Reach, Cardiff (3.4 miles to M4 / 1.1 miles to Grangetown Station)

Northbank One, Sheffield (3.5 miles to M1 / 0.6 miles to Sheffield Station)

Albert Edward House, Preston (2.2 miles to M55 / 1.5 miles to Preston Central)

5 Temple Sq, Liverpool (3.5 miles to M53 / 0.7 miles to Lime Street mainline)

84 Albion Street, Leeds (1.9 miles to M621 / 0.6 miles to Leeds City)

c3. “Drive-To” Regional Business & Industrial Parks
These are large commercial parks positioned on regional A-roads. They capture local vehicular commuter workforces but aren’t proximate to a motorway.

Cyan Building, Rotherham (4.2 miles to M1 J36)

Fairfax House, Wolverhampton (2.8 miles to M54 J2)

Bering House & Timor House, Clydebank, Glasgow (3.4 miles to A82 / M8 link)

Tasman House & Caspian House, Clydebank, Glasgow (3.4 miles to A82 / M8 link)

Wilkinson Building, St Helens (3.9 miles to M57 J2)

Columbus House, Coventry (4.8 miles to M6 J3)

Eagle Court, Coventry Road, Birmingham (2.1 miles to M6 J6 / 2.5 miles to M42 J6)

Linford Wood Business Park, Milton Keynes (3.6 miles to M1 J14 / 1.2 miles to station)

Century Park, Altrincham, Manchester (2.8 miles to M56 J7)

Leo House, Wallington, London Periphery (5.4 miles to M23 J7)

The Whole List (this includes two disposed properties YTD – don’t know which those are)
Flagship Properties Valued £10m+
As can be seen below these are located attractively for transport. The “worst” in terms of distance Eagle Court which is on a dual carriageway a short way from the NEC.

Midrange £5m to £10m
The theme continues where few properties are not near transport links. The outliers tend to be retail/leisure and non-office therefore presumably part of the “Sale” cohort.

Finally the below £5m properties are generally also generally well located:

With nearly zero new office supply (compared with average new demand of 2m sq.ft per year) and a determination by the incoming PM for a “levelling up” (and some regions shall be more level than others?) who is better placed than RGL for this bounty of effort by the Labour Government from now until they’re gone in 2029?

RGL faces very little competition from new supply.

We’ve seen the transformative effect even just moving the BBC had back in the noughties on Media City Salford. Transformation indeed.

Conclusion
From zero to hero? Stranger things and an outlaw hiding in places like the motorway junction edge of Sherwood Forest, could be the start of the revival of the regions. The signs of recovery are already there even before Burnham coronated his way into his post.

The ERV per tenant, per property and per unit of RGL’s portfolio has been rising for a while too.

The Equivalent/Reversionary Yield too.

Buying RGL for 92p buys 328p of property where you owe a net -£1.30 a share to lenders (£1.98 NAV) and where even the unwanted property has been selling at or close to its book value.

Maybe I’m wrong, and this article is your sell signal. RGL could descend in flames. Some appear to want to believe that. Just like the airship Hindenberg which disastrously leaked hydrogen and crashed in flames.

I get that people dislike RGL. I get that there are those who claim there are “better quality” alternative REITs. But you pay handsomely for that quality. I’ve checked.

When you look at RGL assets, and consider the average 1% GDP growth, things are not going as bad as the media would portray. The interventionist Labour government will likely be a tailwind for RGL. However you feel about that, in my opinion it is the way the wind is blowing.

RGL is, I believe, another of these and yes in the recent past RGL raised money and diluted shareholders and has a poor track record, you can point the finger at management, blah de dah de dah. The point is it’s now 2026. It’s just 92p a share. They have refinanced debt, reset the dividend, paid out £70m of dividends over the past 3 years, on a mar cap of £150m mind you. RGL debt is today much more under control (and falling) and the upside potential for well-located offices and a capex program driving EPC A and B upgrades and demand for upgraded regional offices is growing too.

Here’s a final thought: Two years ago post dilution, RGL was at 140p a share. Compared with its former self as at July 2024, the July 2026 version of RGL is over 40% cheaper…. fitter and leaner, but also unjustifiably cheaper, given its improving outlook.

Regards

The Oak Bloke.

Disclaimers:

This content is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not consider your personal circumstances and is not financial, investment, tax, legal, or professional advice. Nothing here is a recommendation, offer, or solicitation to buy, sell, or hold any investment.