It had become the preserve of institutional investors but even they had only a modest appetite for investment

It had become the preserve of institutional investors, but even they had only a modest appetite for investment trusts. This meant trust shares were bought and sold for substantially less than the net asset value of their underlying investments – their “real” value.
Thanks largely to the introduction of savings schemes, interest in trusts has reawoken. The number of investment trusts has almost doubled to about 350 since the start of the decade.Best and worst-performing investment trusts*International general Growth over Growth overfunds 3 years (%) 5 years (%)Law Debenture 88 206Bankers 62 167Personal Assets 58 214Brunner 57 109Foreign & Colonial 53 122Average 50 120Second Alliance 41 109Baring Tribune 41 91Mid Wynd International 40 95Alliance 36 100Scottish American 27 85UK general fundsFinsbury Trust 123 146Mercury Keystone 91 146Finsbury Growth 66 155Fleming Claverhouse 42 95Edinburgh Investment 41 73Average 50 110Malvern UK Index 39 83Govett Strategic 37 94Albany 30 91M&G Recovery (Units) 27 -Murray Split Capital (Units) 11 -* Five best and worst-performing investment trusts among peer group over the past three years and how they have done over five years Source: HSW. And while they do well in the third- placed general management skills and reasonably – at least in the view of the City and journalists – at first- and second-placed strategic thinking and leadership, their scores are negative in just about every other category.Disappointingly perhaps for those who – like the Deputy Prime Minister, Michael Heseltine – want to see the arrival of “national champions” to battle on the world stage, it appears that only a handful of companies are rising above the mediocre.This year’s award – the third – was won by last year’s winner, Marks and Spencer. INVESTMENT trusts and private investors have rediscovered one another over the past 10 years.

A spokeswoman said: “We are considering it but it is in the very early discussion stages.” One thing is for sure, if the advertising campaign does reach our screens, it will not feature homosexual rape.. The Law Society of England and Wales is considering imposing a levy of pounds 100 on every partner in a law firm to raise pounds 5m to run a generic advertising campaign to improve the image of the profession. We have identified the need for further activity to differentiate chartered accountants from others and those who are unqualified.”Now English lawyers may be getting some of the same treatment. The adverts, which are also intended to dispel the boring image that accountants are saddled with, included one that said: “It’s easier to sleep with a chartered accountant.” Susan Reynolds, a spokeswoman for the ICA, says: “The campaign has worked hard to redress some of the problems of awareness faced by the profession. Ian Skillen, a director of Rileys Advertising in Glasgow, says: “We tried to give lawyers a more human face by using humour and telling consumers it is never too early to contact a solicitor.”It is a step already taken by the Institute of Chartered Accountants, which last year ran a poster campaign, including one telling consumers to use a chartered accountant for business and tax advice rather than a “cowboy accountant”. It has run a corporate campaign rather than focusing on services. Toby Pound, who was managing partner when the decision to advertise was taken, says: “We did it to increase our visibility.

We used an animated form of our logo and struck a deal with Anglia TV so that our total budget was under pounds 5O,000.” He adds: “While we cannot measure the results in terms of the number of clients coming through the door, it has put us on the map in a way that we weren’t before.”While small regional firms are prepared to investigate how advertising can raise their profile, many larger commercial firms are not. One head of a London advertising agency said: “We talked to a leading firm of solicitors but in the end they were rather snooty about the whole business of advertising and were worried that existing clients might not like it.”In Scotland, individual law firms have not had to invest in advertising as the Law Society of Scotland has run a generic advertising campaign for three years to make the profession appear more approachable. Television campaigns have been deemed too expensive, too risky and their benefits too hard to measure by most law firms.One of the few to use television advertising is Prettys of Ipswich in Suffolk. But American-style ambulance-chasing lawyers have so far failed to swamp our screens.Those practices that have chosen to advertise their services have generally used discreet local press advertisements.