Nick Train vows to stick to his guns as Finsbury Growth & Income bets big on AI
Nick Train (pictured) addressed shareholders at Finsbury Income & Growth's annual general meeting in London on Tuesday (23 January).
At the trust's annual general meeting in London on Tuesday (23 January), Train said that himself and deputy manager Madeline Wright believe they «should stick with the investment approach that, by and large, has worked for the past 24 years».
«It is important to recognise how easy it is to fall into getting bounced out of what are fundamentally very good businesses that might not be doing well at the moment,» he said.
«I have seen so many professional investors fail because of overtrading. I want to resist changing the approach — sorry if that is inadequate.»
The £1.8bn trust, which fell into its third consecutive year of underperformance relative to its benchmark in 2023, holds 21 equity positions, with the top ten representing 85% of its net asset value.
Train defends concentration despite persistent Finsbury Growth & Income underperformance
Some of the portfolio's largest investments, such as Burberry and Diageo, which last year fell 27.8% and 19.9%, respectively, together comprise 15% of total NAV.
Looking ahead, however, Train said he has «high aspirations for future returns», in large part due to the portfolio's high concentration in what he described as «AI winners», such as RELX, London Stock Exchange Group, Sage, Hargreaves Lansdown, Experian and Rightmove.
Wright expressed confidence that these businesses are positioned for «fantastic long-term returns» in anticipation that the ongoing advancement of AI technologies will boost the value of their data and software offerings.
«AI is offering the ability to make sense of the data faster, more efficiently, more accurately and in a
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