Whether it is for education costs, a career break or to support an energetic retirement, there will be moments when you need an income from investments. You may just enjoy the predictability of getting a chunk of your investment back year after year, whatever is happening in financial markets. A managed portfolio of investment trusts can be a good option to generate income, while maintaining the potential for capital growth.
There are a range of demands on your investments. Education costs are rising, the job market is less secure, while retirement is often longer and more expensive. You need your investments to generate a high income, that keeps pace with the cost of living, but is predictable. This is no mean feat.
Longer life expectancies may see people spend 20-25 years in retirement, and with greater ambitions for travel and experiences. This means inflation is a far greater risk. Retirees need their income to match – and ideally outpace – inflation. That argues for a higher weighting in stock market investments, which may provide greater protection against inflation.
Yet neither do investors want significant volatility. Predictability matters for retirees. They need an income stream they can rely on, that won’t ebb and flow with the latest trade war, White House tweet or international conflict.
Invest for income
Dividends are, in effect, a share of company profits. As part owners in the company, shareholders are entitled to receive these payments. Companies vary in the amount they pay to shareholders, but many companies are committed to paying a dividend year after year barring exceptional circumstances.
Investment trusts are a natural choice for income investors. Income-focused trusts will bring together a portfolio of income-generating companies to deliver a growing income over time. Over 80% of trusts pay a dividend, with an average yield of 3.3%3. Many trusts have a multi-decade track record of growing their income to shareholders. These are just a few of the reasons why we believe in investment trusts for income.
Trusts can also pay income out of capital growth. The advantage of this tool is that income investors can add different regions or investment strategies to their portfolio that don’t naturally generate a lot of income, and still receive a dividend. This might include private equity, for example, or certain emerging markets.
The trust
CT Global Managed Portfolio Trust comprises a carefully curated portfolio of income-focused investment trusts. These trusts will usually have an explicit dividend target set by their board. They may prioritise those companies that have a strong track record of paying dividends to shareholders, and have the cash flows to support future payouts. Others will invest in infrastructure, property or private equity investments.
CT Global Managed Portfolio Trust has grown its payout to shareholders every year for 15 years. That makes it a next generation dividend hero, a title given to investment trusts by the AIC to those companies that consistently increase their dividends year on year5.
There are a range of levers we pull that allow us to pay a high, growing, but reliable income to investors. The first is strong diversification. The trust draws income from a diversified range of investment trusts, balancing ‘core’ global equity income trusts, with alternative sources. For example, the trust has exposure to income from Asian markets. This can give a different type of exposure, bringing in more technology exposure, for example.
The trust also looks to diversify through alternative assets such as private equity and infrastructure. In infrastructure trusts, for example, there is exposure to structural growth themes such as electrification and data centres, but they also tend to pay an inflation-adjusted income to investors. This income is usually consistent and does not vary significantly with market conditions.
The trust also makes use of the tools that the investment trust structure provides – it has a small amount of gearing, which can enhance the yield as well as the capital growth. Gearing is when an investment company borrows money to buy more assets in order to magnify potential returns and dividends. However, it can magnify losses if the market moves lower. CT Global Managed Portfolio Trust has also built up reserves that allow it to sustain and grow its dividend consistently. The board has a strong commitment to growing the dividend over time, understanding that shareholders rely on the investment income they provide.
The pursuit of income does not mean the managers neglect growth. One of the best ways to grow income over time is to look for dynamic and growing areas of the global economy. The managers always invest with an eye to growing the capital pot from which income is derived.
CT Global Managed Portfolio Trust’s income portfolio sits alongside the capital growth portfolio. Investors can switch between the two portfolios free from capital gains tax using the Conversion Facility once a year. If your needs change, or you don’t need income for a period of time, you have the flexibility to switch. This helps ensure your portfolio is consistently in line with your ambition for your wealth.
1 Landmark Wealth Management – S&P 500 Dividends Outpace Inflation: A Powerful Long-Term Wealth Builder – 26 June 2026
2 Trustnet – FTSE 100 dividend growth stumbles in 2025 – 7 July 2026
3 The AIC – Compare investment companies – August 2026
4 Hargreaves Lansdown – Can investment trusts provide a reliable source of income? – 25 August 2026
Meet the Fund Managers
Paul Green is a portfolio manager in the Multi-Asset Solutions, EMEA team, responsible for the management of the Multi-Manager Universal funds and the CT Global Managed Portfolio Trust. He joined Columbia Threadneedle through the acquisition of BMO GAM (EMEA) in 2021, having been with BMO, via Thames River Capital, since 2007. Prior to focusing on investment management, Paul gained experience in portfolio implementation, portfolio pricing and client administration at Credit Suisse Asset Management and before that, at Rothschild Asset Management. He holds the Investment Administration Qualification (IAQ), the Investment Management Certificate (IMC), the CISI Level 6 Certificate in Private Client Investment Advice & Management and the CISI Diploma.
Adam Norris is a portfolio manager in the Multi-Asset Solutions, EMEA team responsible for the management of the Multi-Manager Universal funds and the CT Global Managed Portfolio Trust. He joined Columbia Threadneedle through the acquisition of BMO GAM (EMEA) in 2021, having previously been with BMO since 2013. Initially, he worked in product management within the firm, before moving into fund and investment company selection in 2016. He is a CFA charterholder and holds the Investment Management Certificate.
Important information: information is correct as of date of publication. Information from external sources is considered reliable but there is no guarantee as to its accuracy or completeness.
Investment risks
The value of your investments and any income from them can go down as well as up and you may not get back the original amount invested. Gearing is used for investment purposes to obtain, increase or reduce exposure to an asset, index or investment. The use of gearing can enhance returns to investors in a rising market, but if the market falls the losses may be greater.
Issued by Columbia Threadneedle Management Limited and approved for distribution 11/09/2026.
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