We have enjoyed meeting with investors during our half-year results roadshow. One topic has come up repeatedly: how to achieve diversification in a concentrated public market.
The S&P 500 has delivered strong returns, but just seven companies, or 1.4% of the index, generated more than half of its gains between 2023 and 20251. With the pipeline of large technology and AI IPOs building, that concentration may increase further. Recent FTSE All Share performance has also been led by Energy, Telecommunications and Basic Materials companies.
We believe ICGT can act as a portfolio diversifier.
Whilst the S&P 500 is increasingly influenced by Technology, and the FTSE All Share by Financials and Energy, ICGT’s largest sector exposures are spread across TMT (Technology, Media and Telecoms), Consumer goods and services, and Healthcare.
We also invest in a different part of the market, focusing on companies with Enterprise Values of $250m-$2bn, compared with an indicative median EV of around $50bn for the S&P 5002.
ICGT is also delivering strong growth at attractive valuations. Our Portfolio3 recorded 16% EBITDA growth LTM and is valued at 15.8x. That compares with 11% growth and an 18x multiple for the S&P 5004.
In our view this all matters because many investors already have substantial exposure to the companies driving public-market returns. We believe ICGT can play an important role as part of a broader portfolio, with different growth drivers from those dominating public equity markets. Take for example ICGT’s top five companies at 31 July 2026: they range from defence to data analytics to theatres, benefiting from distinct and broadly uncorrelated themes that we believe can help build resilience in a portfolio over the long term. We welcome our shareholders’ thoughts on this. Do feel free to reply to [email protected] if you have views you would like to share. We look forward to talking more in the coming months.
ICG’s Head of Corporate Development and Shareholder Relations, Chris Hunt, spoke at the LSE Investment Funds Conference last month, on a panel discussing investment trusts and other fund structures.
The panel’s perspectives were varied but a number of themes came through: whilst investment trusts can trade at discounts (or indeed premiums) at different points in the market cycle, every structure has its trade-offs and understanding those is an important part of an investment decision. Shareholders in investment trusts benefit from daily liquidity; a long-term time horizon; and strong shareholder governance.
You can watch the replay here.
With best wishes,
Oliver and Colm
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
Unsure of some of these terms? See our Glossary.
1https://www.futurestandard.com/insights/chart-of-the-week/mag-7-index-concentration-risk#
2https://www.quantlink.ai/learn/glossary/enterprise-value
3 Based on Enlarged Perimeter, covering 69% of the Portfolio
4 Source: Bloomberg, as at 30 June 2026
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