F & C Investment Trust

F & C Investment Trust, formerly Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust, is a publicly traded investment trust. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index; it is also listed on the New Zealand Exchange.

History
The company was founded by Philip Rose, who also founded the Royal Brompton Hospital, in 1868 as The Foreign & Colonial Government Trust: it was the first collective investment scheme in the world and specialised in investing in Government bonds.

In 1891 it changed its name to The Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust: it first started investing in equities in 1925.

In 1981, the company launched Graphite Capital, a leading UK private equity firm.

The company shortened its name from The Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust to F & C Investment Trust in 2018.

Operations
The company is managed by Paul Niven of F&C Asset Management. The current chair is Beatrice Hollond.