The power of long-term investments

Written by Holly Thomas, Independent Journalist

The world's first collective investment vehicle (F&C Investment Trust) was launched in 1868. The founders understood the importance of long-term investing and wanted to encourage people to save for their future. The Trust pioneered the regular savings plan, which allows investors to save "little and often". The examples below show how drip-feeding savings could have helped build a significant nest-egg. Of course, these figures are intended to be an engaging illustration of long-termism and not an indication of future performance. The value of an investment can go down as well as rise and an investor might not get back the original amount invested.

£146,724

A 17-inch colour TV cost around £5 per month to rent in 1972. If you'd saved the £5 cost into F&CIT instead of renting the TV, and done the same each month since, you'd now have £146,724

£199,198

The highest grossing film of the 1980s was ET with US$435 million. If you'd invested £435 when it was released in December 1982, and each year subsequently, you'd personally have grossed £199,198.

£10,784

If you'd set up a regular F&CIT savings plan of just £25 a month when Facebook was founded in March 2004, you'd now have a financial worth of £10,784.

£24,206

Vogue magazine costs £4 a month. If you'd put this amount away each month since Diana Princess of Wales featured on the cover back in August 1981, you'd have made £24,206.

£245,944

Concorde first flew in March 1969. If you'd invested the return fare of £1,209 in F&CIT instead of getting on the plane, today you could jet away with £245,944.

£6,510

Had you invested the £269 - the cost of an iPhone at launch - in November 2007 into F&CIT and then put the same in each year, today you'd have £6,510.


5 Year discrete performance

Discrete annual performance 2017/2016 2016/2015 2015/2014 2014/2013 2013/2012
NAV 16.8 23.6 8.2 8.9 21.6
Share price 21.1 23.7 9.0 13.5 21.5
Benchmark 13.8 29.6 4.0 11.3 21.0

Source: Lipper. Basis: share price, percentage growth, bid to bid, net income reinvested. Basis in accordance to the regulations of the Financial Conduct Authority. The discrete annual performance table refers to 12 month periods, ending at the date shown. The cumulative performance table refers to cumulative periods ending 29.12.17.

Past performance should not be seen as an indication of future performance.

All figures to end December 2017 and verified by Square Mile Investment Consulting and Research.

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