Portfolio Asset Allocation of UK Investment Trusts 1914-1928

This is the dataset of a study that investigates the portfolio asset allocation of UK investment trusts between 1914 and 1928. It includes a unique hand-collected sample of of 41 companies, which comprises 40,875 portfolio holdings. According to the findings of our research, UK investment trusts not only survived WWI without major losses but had a remarkable performance in the 1920s, which led to a wave of new incorporations. The 1920s was a period of significant shifts in investment trust portfolio composition and our analysis examines the main reasons for this. We show that investment trust managers were able to adjust quickly to the new socioeconomic circumstances and secure high profitability for their shareholders.