Brunner Investment Trust plc (LON:BUT) has reported its half-year results for the six months ended 31 May 2026, including NAV performance, dividend declarations, share buybacks and portfolio activity.
Half Year results
As at 31 May 2026
Net Asset Value total return Debt at fair value2
+5.6%
31.05.25: -1.5%
Net Asset Value total return Debt at par2
+5.6%
31.05.25: -1.7%
Benchmark total return index3
+12.0%
31.05.25: -0.1%
Net assets per ordinary share1 Debt at fair value2
1,640.1p
30.11.25: 1,565.8p
+4.7%
Net assets per ordinary share1 Debt at par
1,616.1p
30.11.25: 1,543.2p
+4.7%
Share price total return2,4
+8.1%
31.05.26: 1,506.0p
30.11.25: 1,406.0p
Earnings per ordinary share
19.7p
2025: 17.3p
+13.9%
Dividend per ordinary share
13.5p
2025: 12.5p
+8.0%
Discount – average in the period2
8.8%
2025: 3.3%
Consumer price index
+2.9%
2026: 142.4
2025: 138.4
All figures are UK GAAP unless they are stated to be Alternative Performance Measures. (Glossary at the end of the document and page 32 in the printed report).
1 All references to Net Asset Value (NAV) in our commentary and the Strategic Report are to NAV with debt at fair value since this is the measure that the board considers best reflects the value to shareholders. However, NAV with debt at par value is reported above and in the Performance – half year review on page 8.
2 Alternative Performance Measures (APM). See Glossary on page 32.
3 The benchmark index of 70% FTSE World Ex UK Index and 30% FTSE All-Share Index.
4 Share price total return is based on the movement in share price including dividends reinvested.
Chair’s Statement
Dear Shareholder,
The first half of the Company’s financial year once again provided equity investors generally with the conditions for growth, but only in a narrow field of view. Equity markets in aggregate rose over the period, but the make up of those returns was far more selective than the headline numbers suggested. The Investment Manager’s Review describes a market environment shaped mainly by enthusiasm for artificial intelligence-related capital spending and to a lesser degree by renewed geopolitical and energy market disruption. The former was certainly the key driver for markets, the exuberance on occasion completely offsetting any negative response to geopolitical events. Consequently, returns varied hugely by sector, with Information Technology and Energy performing strongly, while several other areas of the market were much more subdued. Outside of markets, the world at large remained volatile, with further escalation in Ukraine, and the US, Israel and Iran re-igniting tensions in the middle east, further exposing both regional and global fragility.
In part this backdrop helps explain Brunner’s performance over the six-month review period to 31 May 2026. This has been yet another period in which benchmark returns were shaped by unusually narrow and momentum-driven markets, with much of the leadership connected to companies perceived to be beneficiaries of the current investor enthusiasm for all things AI. Brunner is not eschewing this theme though. The portfolio includes companies that are important beneficiaries of technological change and the massive growth in the infrastructure required to support it. However, we have chosen to participate through a considered set of established and durable businesses where we can be more comfortable with their valuations, rather than through concentrated exposure to the most highly valued parts of the market. That choice has undoubtedly weighed on our performance relative to the benchmark in the short term, but we continue to believe it is the most prudent course for long-term shareholders.
We recognise that extended periods of relative underperformance are frustrating for shareholders, particularly when headline markets appear so strong. It is though precisely in such periods that clarity of purpose matters most. As we described at length in the Annual Report, Brunner’s role is not to chase every short-term market fashion, nor to reshape the portfolio simply because the benchmark has become more concentrated in one area. The Trust’s purpose is to provide you, our shareholders, with balanced exposure to a diverse basket of global equities, a rising income over time, and an investment approach that seeks to remain robust across a range of market conditions.
That “all-weather” approach as we have dubbed it, is tested most visibly when markets reward a narrow group of companies or a single dominant investment theme. It could be tempting in such periods to judge success only by reference to the index over a short timeframe. We feel that long-term stewardship though requires a wider perspective – one that considers the fundamental investing tenets of valuation, diversification, free cash flow and income generation/return of cash to shareholders, while avoiding any overt overdependence on assumptions that have not yet been fully proven.
Performance
Over the six months to 31 May 2026, Brunner’s Net Asset Value rose by 5.6% in total return terms with debt valued at market value. The benchmark rose by 12.0% over the same period. The discount to Net Asset Value narrowed slightly, resulting in a share price return of 8.1%, again in total return terms. Whilst these are respectable absolute returns, they have clearly trailed the benchmark in a period when market gains were heavily influenced by companies most directly linked to the current technology-led market leadership, something the managers cover in more detail in their report on pages 10 to 22.
The portfolio was not without exposure to this theme. You will see that the managers highlight strong contributions from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and ASML, both of which are central to the global semiconductor supply chain. Microchip was also a strong contributor on the back of a recovery in memory demand. This should hopefully demonstrate to Shareholders that Brunner is in no way avoiding technological change, but that the managers are seeking exposure in a considered fashion where they believe business quality, competitive position and valuation can all be reconciled.
Where the portfolio did not participate fully was in some of the more momentum-driven areas of the market – for those not familiar, this describes the investment phenomenon where investors continue to buy stocks that are outperforming in terms of share price gains and to sell those that are underperforming. Whilst this has undoubtedly been making money in the short term for investors following that strategy, it should hopefully be clear that at its extremes it will naturally create valuation anomalies, both in terms of over-valued as well as under-valued stocks.
Active management by definition requires making choices, and some of those choices can be uncomfortable in periods when market returns are concentrated in a narrow set of companies. The development of the technology market over the past decade or so has demonstrated this on repeat, with ‘FAANGS’, the ‘Magnificent Seven’, and now AI seeming to write their own – at the time – apparently unassailable narratives. However, we do not believe that shareholders are best served by allowing one theme to overly dominate the portfolio. Brunner’s approach is based on diversified stock selection, valuation discipline, cash generation and a long-term view of risk.
Periods such as this can make such focus on risk look at the very least unrewarded, and even unnecessary at the extreme, but they are also the moments when its need is clearest in our view. Our responsibility is not to ensure the portfolio keeps pace with every short-term market fashion, but to support an approach that seeks to grow shareholders’ capital sensibly through a range of different market conditions.
Please do read the detail on the portfolio returns in the Portfolio Managers’ Report as it shows clearly, that in a period of extremely narrow technology-focused market leadership, how positive contributions for Brunner’s portfolio came from a range of holdings outside the most obvious AI beneficiaries, including IG Group, TotalEnergies, ConocoPhillips, Kia and CBIZ. We regard this variety of contribution as important. It reflects the kind of diversified portfolio construction that we feel remains appropriate for shareholders seeking long-term capital growth and a rising income from global equities.
There is little doubt that AI is likely to change industries and business models in ways that are not yet fully visible, or perhaps even conceptualised. However, we believe the appropriate response is careful analysis, not indiscriminate enthusiasm, or avoidance – as the software sector has witnessed this year for example against a narrative of being an AI loser. Some companies will be strengthened by AI, some may be weakened, and some will be misunderstood by the market along the way. This is precisely why the Board continues to support the managers’ analytical bottom-up stock picking approach.
Dividend
Income remains an important part of Brunner’s investment proposition. We are mindful that many shareholders value not only the trust’s exposure to the growth potential of global equities, but also the predictable income stream that the investment trust structure allows us to construct for shareholders. This is particularly important in periods when market leadership is narrow and price returns can be correspondingly volatile.
In June, the board declared a first interim dividend of 6.75p per ordinary share, payable on 24 July 2026. For the remainder of the year ending 30 November 2026, the Board also anticipates second and third interim dividends, and the final dividend, being paid at a similar level. Brunner’s revenue reserves comfortably cover a full year’s dividend payment, allowing the Board to forecast this year’s dividend with confidence. This would represent a full year’s dividend of 27.0p per ordinary share, an increase of 8.0% over the previous year.
The board therefore declares a second interim dividend of 6.75p per ordinary share payable on 18 September 2026 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 31 July 2026. The ex-dividend date is 30 July 2026. A Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP) is available for this dividend and the last date for the DRIP election is 21 August 2026.
The Board continues to regard Brunner’s revenue reserves as an important strength. They provide the flexibility to support dividend growth in more challenging market conditions and underpin a key part of Brunner’s appeal: a global equity portfolio offering both long-term growth potential and a visible, growing income stream.
Brunner’s dividend record remains one of the Trust’s defining features. As noted in the 2025 annual report, the full-year dividend was 25.0p per ordinary share, an increase of 5.3% over the 2024 dividend. That raised the Trust to 54 years of consecutive dividend increases, remaining one of the AIC’s longest running ‘Dividend Heroes’. The Board remains committed to maintaining this long-term record in a prudent and sustainable manner. Dividend predictability is not an afterthought for us – it is one of the Trust’s defining features.
Discount and shareholder demand
The discount to Net Asset Value (calculated on a total return with debt at market value basis) narrowed slightly over the period, contributing to a share price total return of 8.1%, being slightly ahead of the NAV return of 5.6% The average discount over the period was 8.8%. The Board continues to monitor the rating of the Trust carefully and recognises that a period such as we have witnessed where the discount remains stubbornly high for a protracted period is an unwelcome scenario for shareholders. As a result we have performed selective share buybacks over the period. During the period the Company bought back 156,470 shares for holding in treasury at a cost of £2.2m. Since 31 May to the date of this report, we have bought back a further 100,324 shares (£1.5m).
Shareholder demand – which ultimately drives the discount or premium – is influenced by a range of factors, including investment performance, sector sentiment, market conditions and the clarity with which the trust’s proposition is communicated. For the reasons noted earlier, we recognise that, over the period, Brunner has not necessarily been a primary short-term allocation choice for global equity investors chasing outright performance, with stronger short-term returns generated by those peers with a closer alignment to the dominant AI theme. However, we believe that Brunner’s differentiated characteristics – a balanced global and UK equity portfolio, a progressive dividend record and a genuinely long-term investment approach – remain highly relevant to both existing and prospective shareholders who value our long-term-focused prudent investment approach.
Sales, marketing and PR activity continue to support awareness of the trust, and the Board remains focused on ensuring that Brunner’s investment case is explained clearly and consistently. We feel this is important at a time when some investors may equate global equity exposure simply with owning a small number of very large technology companies, particularly if that exposure is via passive investment vehicles, more closely aligned with the market index. Brunner offers something different – global equity exposure with greater balance, dividend discipline and a valuation-aware investment process.
Risks
The Board continues to review the principal risks facing the company. These remain broadly consistent with those set out in the Annual Report, although the current environment has increased our focus on geopolitical fragmentation, policy uncertainty, inflation and interest-rate sensitivity, and the risks that can arise from unusually narrow market leadership. The Board does not regard these risks as reasons to depart from Brunner’s disciplined approach – rather, they reinforce the importance of portfolio diversification, valuation discipline in stock selection and review, and active oversight.
AGM
It was a pleasure to see so many shareholders at this year’s Annual General Meeting. All resolutions were passed on a show of hands. Our Portfolio Managers presented an investment update, and we encourage shareholders who were unable to attend to view the various recordings and interviews available on the Brunner website. The Board values this opportunity to engage directly with shareholders and thanks all those who participated.
Board appointment
Since the half-year end, the board was pleased to announce it had completed its search for a new director who would be able to become Chair when I step down after the AGM in 2027. We welcome Beatrice Hollond who will join the board on 1 September 2026.
Outlook
Unfortunately, there do not appear to be any signals that would indicate that the market backdrop might become simpler in the near term. Equity markets continue to exude apparent confidence, yet that confidence rests predominantly on assumptions that still need to be proven in the AI segment of the technology sector.
We are in no way questioning the importance of artificial intelligence; indeed, it may well prove to be one of the defining technological shifts of our time. The investment question, however, is not only whether the technology is important. It is really about which companies will capture the economic benefits over the long term, whether those economics will justify the capital being committed today, and what price investors are being asked to pay in advance for that unknown economic benefit. Ultimately, without certainty on those factors, any other methods of ‘valuing’ some of these companies will naturally be more speculative and based on point-in-time mass market sentiment and, dare one say, an element of herd mentality. Whilst money can still be made in the short term under a more speculative framework, it should not – in our view – be the fundamental approach for risk-aware investors.
Transformational technologies can create very significant long-term value and even create new sectors in their own right. However, the ultimate rewards do not always go to the companies most enthusiastically valued at the early stages of investment cycles – something seen strongly in the history of the development of the internet. We therefore support the portfolio managers’ approach of seeking exposure to long-term growth themes where they are supported by business quality, competitive strength and sensible valuations, while also looking for opportunities in companies that may have been overlooked as capital has crowded into narrower areas of the market. Talking of that capital allocation in the market, there can be no doubt that come our next report in six months, we will be reporting on another noteworthy period for markets – shortly after this current period end, we saw the largest IPO of all time, with plenty of investor enthusiasm from both professional and retail investors alike as the much vaunted SpaceX came to the public markets, with two of the leading ‘pure-play’ AI LLM providers, Anthropic and Open AI, planning to follow. That itself was followed swiftly by a painful rout in technology stocks.
Brunner’s portfolio is not built around macroeconomic forecasts or one dominant market narrative. It is built from individual companies that the managers believe can deliver attractive returns over time, across a range of economic and market conditions. This remains central to Brunner’s “all-weather” proposition and to our confidence in the Trust’s long-term role for shareholders.
Markets may continue to reward momentum in the near term. It’s not possible to predict precisely when market leadership will broaden or when investors will again place greater emphasis on free cash flow and valuation discipline. However, we believe Brunner is best served by remaining consistent in its approach – to provide shareholders with long-term capital growth and a rising income from a diversified portfolio of global equities.
Carolan Dobson
Chair
20 July 2026
