The Mercantile Investment Trust celebrates its 140th anniversary with the London Stock Exchange
The Mercantile Investment Trust, the home of tomorrow's UK market leaders, celebrates its 140th anniversary at the LSEG.
Today, The Mercantile Investment Trust (The Mercantile) is proud to celebrate its 140th anniversary with a market opening ceremony at The London Stock Exchange. The ceremony was attended by The Mercantile’s Chairman Angus Gordon Lennox, J.P. Morgan Asset Management EMEA CEO Patrick Thomson, and fellow board members, together with invited guests.
A stalwart in the investment world, The Mercantile was founded on 8th December 1884, with the vision of delivering long-term capital growth from an international portfolio. Initially attracting 505 shareholders with a capital of £190,020, today its £2.4 billion+ investment portfolio is managed on behalf of many thousands of shareholders, from small individual investors, to wealth managers, and major institutions.
In 1994, the investment objective was amended from an international portfolio to focus on long-term capital growth from a UK portfolio of medium and smaller companies. At the same time, the FTSE All-Share (ex FTSE 100) Index was formally adopted as the benchmark. Jumping forward 30 years to 2024, The Mercantile was recently recognised as a ‘next generation dividend hero’ by the Association of Investment Companies, having increased its dividend for 10 or more consecutive years.
Since 1884, The Mercantile has navigated booms, busts, world wars and industrial transformation by seeking out well-managed, strongly financed companies. As Chairman Angus Gordon Lennox highlights: “The Mercantile is a company built on a shared passion to find and invest in great companies, to adapt to a changing world, and to be constantly curious about what the future holds. As the home of tomorrow’s UK market leaders, The Mercantile remains as relevant and exciting to investors today as it was to its first 505 shareholders in 1884.”
“The market opening ceremony not only celebrates The Mercantile's rich history since its 1884 launch but also underscores its continued relevance and potential for investors. For the last 30 years, The Mercantile has been investing in the UK’s small and mid cap market leaders of tomorrow, helping to provide capital to companies who are based in the UK and wanting to grow. Most importantly, the Mercantile has also provided long term capital growth for its shareholders. £1000 invested in June 1994 would have been worth £22,616 in September 2024.”
Patrick Thomson
J.P. Morgan Asset Management EMEA CEO
Find out more about The Mercantile and its investment strategy or Mercantile Investment Trust PLC
