London, UK, 10 December 2021

Edison issues review on The Merchants Trust (MRCH)

The Merchants Trust (MRCH) is managed by Simon Gergel, who is chief investment officer, UK equities, at Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI). This firm has been engaged in environmental, social and governance (ESG) research since 2000, and a consideration of ESG factors is deeply embedded in MRCH's disciplined investment process. While the manager is very encouraged by the trust's improved performance following a tough period in early-2020, he is not complacent, and continues to seek high-quality businesses that are trading on reasonable valuations and can be held for the long term. MRCH consistently offers a dividend yield above that of the broad UK stock market and is on track for 40 years of consecutive annual dividend growth; its current yield is 4.9%.

MRCH's shares are currently trading at a 0.2% premium to NAV, which compares to a range of an average 0.3% premium to a 1.9% discount over the last one, three, five and 10 years. Strong investor demand for the trust's shares has meant that so far in FY22 (January year-end) c 5.2m shares (c 4.3% of the share base) have been issued, raising c £27.1m.

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