Some of the trusts use the instruments to boost their income, and some to reduce risk.
The performance figures on these funds merit consideration in their own right, but they may appeal in particular to investors with a smaller pot or who prefer a manager to make their asset-allocation decisions.
Shires Income
Shires Income, run by Ed Beal for Aberdeen, currently holds 27.2 per cent in fixed interest investments.
The £69.1m trust has a large position in the high-yielding bonds of various financial institutions, including Ecclesiastical, Royal & Sun Alliance and Standard Chartered.
All of these have hefty yields of more than 7 per cent and contribute to a headline yield on the fund of 5.2 per cent, one of the highest in the sector.
Performance has also been strong on a total return basis: data from FE Analytics shows that the fund has made 49.44 per cent over three years compared with 45.9 per cent from the sector and 27.66 per cent from the FTSE All Share.
Performance of trust vs sector and benchmark over 3yrs
Source: FE Analytics
The bond holdings help to distinguish the trust from the popular open-ended UK equity income funds, although the trust holds many of the stocks familiar to these – BAT, Shell and Vodafone are its three largest equity positions.
Beal also holds 8.2 per cent in the Aberdeen Smaller Companies High Income fund, managed by Phil Webster.
The ongoing charges on the fund are 1.1 per cent and it is currently trading at about par – on a discount of just 0.8 per cent.
Capital Gearing
This five crown-rated trust has been run by Peter Spiller since 1982. It holds 53 per cent in fixed interest, dominated by large positions in safe-haven government bonds such as those of the US, UK and Switzerland.
It also holds other investment trusts, with positions in private equity trusts and funds of hedge funds alongside more traditional equity sectors, making it a truly multi-asset fund.
It has managed to generate decent returns with a low annualised volatility of just 9.17 per cent over five years, a little over half of the 17.65 per cent of the FTSE All Share.
Despite this low volatility, it has managed to make 67.43 per cent over this time while the average UK growth trust has made 43.17 per cent and the FTSE All Share Equity Investment Instruments index has made 35.24 per cent.
Performance of trust vs sector and benchmark over 5yrs
Source: FE Analytics
This success has led to it being highly sought after, and it is trading on a premium of 7.2 per cent.
The ongoing charges are 1.29 per cent, according to the AIC.
Henderson High Income
Henderson High Income, run by Alex Crooke since 1997, is another trust with five FE Crowns.
It currently yields 5.3 per cent, higher than all but two trusts out of the nine in the IT High Income sector, from a portfolio that includes 12.1 per cent in bonds.
As well as the fixed interest investments, Crooke uses smaller companies equities to find greater yield, although his top holdings are the blue chips Vodafone, BAT and GlaxoSmithKline.
Over five years the £153m trust has significantly outperformed both its benchmark and sector, while over three years it is roughly in line with its peers.
Performance of trust vs sector and benchmark over 3yrs
Source: FE Analytics
The trust is on a premium of 2.1 per cent and has a performance fee.
Ruffer Investment Company
This £286m trust, run by Steve Russell and Hamish Baillie, is more in the mould of Capital Gearing Trust, with the focus being on capital preservation and growth rather than income.
It was one of the few trusts to come out of the financial crisis with its reputation enhanced, with the managers making money in the calendar year of 2008.
Performance of trust vs sector over 5yrs
Source: FE Analytics
The managers have large positions in index-linked government bonds, believing that there will soon be a period of high inflation across the globe.
Roughly 29 per cent is in fixed interest, and 4.3 per cent is in gold bullion.
While performance has lagged in recent years, the managers have stuck to their defensive positioning.
In the last few months they have benefited from a high weighting to Japan, a market that has done well off the back of loose monetary policy.
The trust regularly issues equity to keep the premium down, but it is now siting at 3.27 per cent, according to data from FE Analytics.
There is an annual management charge of 1 per cent and no performance fee.
Acorn Income
This £23m fund was highlighted on FE Trustnet at the weekend as a top-performing trust receiving little attention.
Its capital structure was looked at in some detail, as was the equity segment of the portfolio, run by FE Alpha Manager John McClure.
The fixed interest side of the portfolio makes up between 20 and 30 per cent of the trust and is run by Paul Smith.
Smith has the freedom to invest across market cap, sector and credit rating, and has a preference for BBB rated bonds.
Although it has been reduced recently, he retains a high weighting to financials – around 45 per cent of his mandate.
He also has 20 per cent of his portfolio in investment companies, with Greenwich Loan Income Fund and Real Estate Credit preference shares the two biggest holdings.
The yield on the portfolio is now around 6 per cent, according to Numis Securities, down from 7 per cent as yields on the bond market have tightened.
The trust has an annual management fee of 0.7 per cent and a performance fee, but the hurdle has been set very high. It is currently sitting on a premium of 1.7 per cent.