Investing is a long-term proposition, and the usual guidance is that money put into markets should be left alone for years – the longer the better.
But at the same time, circumstances change and investors’ real-life needs differ from investing theory, meaning not everyone has the luxury to put money away for 10 years or longer.
After looking at what to hold for just one year, Trustnet now turns to a five-year time frame, asking fund pickers which funds and trusts they would hold if they had the luxury of not needing to touch it for half a decade.
Open-ended funds
Fairview Investing director Ben Yearsley chose Jupiter Asian Income, which invests in the more developed countries of the Asia Pacific region and looks for stable and growing income.
Performance of fund against index and sector over 5yrs
Source: FE Analytics
“You can take much more risk with five years and properly invest. I’m a long-term believer in Asia. Such an exciting region for investors. Lower debts, higher growth, better demographics,” he said.
The £2.8bn fund holds a FE fundinfo Crown Rating of five, the firm’s highest ranking, and is co-managed by Jason Pidcock and Sam Konrad. It has featured on Trustnet among the most researched funds of 2026 so far and, despite not owning the high-flying Taiwanese and Korean stocks, the fund’s performance has been positive, granting it a spotlight among the emerging market and Asia funds topping the charts while underweight Taiwan and Korea.
Other admirers include Square Mile, RSMR, Hargreaves Lansdown and AJ Bell, all of which include this strategy in their best-buy lists.
Still in Asia, Darius McDermott, managing director at Chelsea Financial Services, opted for Chikara Indian Subcontinent, co-managed by Abhinav Mehra and Andrew Draycott.
Performance of fund against index and sector over 5yrs
Source: FE Analytics
The portfolio is index-agnostic, high conviction and focused on domestically oriented Indian companies.
“For a higher-growth idea with little correlation to the AI-driven rally in the US, India stands out,” McDermott said. “It has a large, young population, a rapidly expanding middle class and a reform-minded, pro-business government. Its stock market often behaves differently from developed markets, which makes it a valuable diversifier.”
He noted that “India is rarely cheap,” however, adding that “volatility is inevitable and the near-term picture is tied to the oil price”. The market cooled last year after a strong run, however, “creating a more appealing entry point for anyone with a five-year view”.
For the third pick, Isaac Stell, investment manager at Wealth Club, went for Barrow Hanley US Mid Cap Value.
Performance of fund against index and sector over 5yrs
Source: FE Analytics
The strategy is run by a Dallas-based value investing boutique, which buys in undervalued mid-cap companies facing temporary issues but with identifiable catalysts for earnings recovery.
Stell said: “Over the past decade or so, the US mega-cap growth trade has been the only trade in town. However, with equity markets becoming increasingly concentrated in a handful of these names and valuations testing the realms of reality, investors may wish to consolidate some of their gains and look to diversify their exposure.”
He added that the fund “provides exposure to a different part of the market, combining a disciplined value approach with a strong long-term track record”.
Closed-ended trusts
Among investment trusts, Yearsley’s pick was Ashoka India Equity – playing on similar themes to those highlighted by McDermott above.
Performance of trust against sector over 5yrs
Source: FE Analytics
Indian equities have fallen in the past year, which Yearsley attributed to elevated valuations, worries over growth and the impact of the Iran war on oil prices.
“Indian equities have had a shocker,” he said. “However, over the long term India is a money-making machine.”
The £394m strategy is characterised by an overweight in small-caps (51.7% versus 16.2% of the MSCI India index).
Performance against the four-strong IT India/Indian Subcontinent sector is mixed: the fund came second over the past five years but fell to third place over three years and 12 months.
McDermott’s trust was Scottish Mortgage, an investor favourite which holds 50 to 100 companies and can put up to 30% of its portfolio in unlisted businesses.
Source: FE Analytics
“Unlike the dot-com bubble, AI is not built on demand that may or may not arrive,” McDermott said. “Companies are paying for it now, revenues at the leading developers are growing at a pace rarely seen, and early adopters are sharply increasing their spending. We are still at an early stage and AI could drive the biggest step change in productivity and growth in decades.”
He said the trust was “not a pure AI play” and that its holdings span the broader technology spectrum, “from e-commerce and space to healthcare innovation”.
“Investors get the liquidity of public markets alongside access to private companies, where much of the growth now happens before a listing,” he added.
The shares trade on a discount of about 9%.
Finally, Stell chose HgCapital Trust, which invests in B2B software and tech-enabled services through specialist European private equity firm HgCapital*.
Performance of trust against sector over 5yrs
Source: FE Analytics
The trust’s share price fell by around 35% between the end of January and the middle of May, caught up in the sell-off in software stocks at the start of 2026 referred to as the ‘SaaSpocalypse’. Its shares currently trade on a 29% discount to net asset value.
Stell said Hg has more than 100 AI specialists supporting over 1,600 AI initiatives across its portfolio.
“We believe the recent sell-off has created an attractive entry point into one of Europe’s leading software-focused private equity investors,” he said. “The SaaSpocalypse of 2026 will ultimately create winners and losers and it’ll be a battle between those who adapt with the times and those who do not. In our view, Hg should be one of the clear winners from this fallout.”
Previously in this series, we looked at the funds and trusts to hold for 10 years.
*HGCapital is a shareholder in FE fundinfo.