Bankers Investment Trust : Annual Report for the year ended 31 October 2022

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The Bankers Investment Trust PLC

Annual Report 2022

Strategic Report
Performance Highlights &
Long-term track record	1
Our Investment Philosophy	2
Investment Principles	3
Chair's Statement	6
Our Investment Process	8
Fund Manager's Report	11
Portfolio Structure	13
Largest Investments	15
Changes in Investments	15
Regional Portfolio Manager Reports
United Kingdom Portfolio	16
Europe (ex UK) Portfolio	18
North America Portfolio	20
Japan Portfolio	22
Pacific (ex Japan and China) Portfolio	24
China Portfolio	26
Distribution of Assets
and Liabilities	28
Rates of Exchange	28
Historical Record	28
Our Approach to Environmental,
Social and Governance Matters	29
Business Model	32
Governance
Board of Directors	43
Directors' Report	45
Corporate Governance Report	47
Audit Committee Report	53
Management Engagement Committee
Report	56
Nominations Committee Report	57
Directors' Remuneration Report	59
Statement of Directors'
Responsibilities	62
Independent Auditor's Report	63
Financial Statements
Statement of Comprehensive Income	70
Statement of Changes in Equity	71
Statement of Financial Position	72
Cash Flow Statement	73
Notes to the Financial Statements	74
Other Shareholder information
Glossary	94
Alternative Performance Measures	95
General Shareholder Information	97
Securities Financing Transactions	98
Corporate Information	99
FCA Share Fraud Warning	100

Leading

diversified portfolios

Performance Highlights1

Net asset value per	Dividend
ordinary share	Per share for year2
With debt at par

Strategic

105.1p 2022

120.9p (2021)

With debt at market value

105.0p 2022

120.7p (2021)

Share price at year end3

96.6p 2022

114.0p (2021)

Net (gearing)/cash at year end5

(5.4%) 2022

(6.6%) (2021)

2.328p 2022

2.176p (2021)

Dividend Growth

7.0% 2022

1.0% (2021)

(Discount)/premium at year end4

(8.1%) 2022

(5.7%) (2021)

Ongoing charge for year

0.50% 2022

0.48% (2021)

Report

Long term track record to 31 October 2022

	1 year	3 years	5 years	10 years	15 years
	%	%	%	%	%
Capital return6
Net asset value7	-13.1	11.1	20.0	124.2	108.7
Share price	-15.3	4.2	13.4	123.0	120.1
FTSE World Index8	-4.9	26.0	40.2	90.8	67.1
Total return9
Net asset value7	-11.3	18.1	33.4	181.9	202.4
Share price	-13.4	10.9	26.3	182.0	226.4
FTSE World Index8	-2.8	34.1	56.9	155.0	168.3
Dividend increase	7.0	11.5	25.3	75.2	109.9
Consumer Price Index	11.1	16.5	21.1	30.1	53.4

1. A glossary of terms and alternative performance measures can be found on pages 94 to 96
2. This represents the four ordinary dividends recommended or paid for the year (see page 81 for more details)
3. Share price is the mid-market closing price
4. Based on the mid-market closing price with debt at par
5. Net (gearing)/cash calculated in accordance with the gearing definition in the alternative performance measures on page 95
6. Capital return excludes all dividends
7. The net asset values shown for the periods up to 15 years include debt at market value, whereas for 15 years it is shown with debt at par value
8. For 5, 10 and 15 years, this is a composite of the FTSE World Index and the FTSE All-Share Index
9. Total return assumes dividends reinvested

Sources: Morningstar Direct, Janus Henderson, Refinitiv Datastream

The Bankers Investment Trust PLC Annual Report 2022

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Our Investment Philosophy

Stewardship, consistency and diversification are the core principles that define how we invest and safeguard our shareholders' money. They are why we have produced stable and consistent income and capital growth over decades. We have paid a dividend for the last 132 years and it has been increased every year for the previous 56 years. This record is a testament to these principles and our approach to long- term investing.

Our enduring core principles have remained unchanged:

• Stewardship - Since the Company was launched in 1888, the Company's purpose has remained unchanged. We are stewards of shareholders' financial aspirations and our role is to generate long-term returns while taking care of their assets over multiple generations with the utmost care and responsibility. Long-term to us means taking decisions that may affect the Company in five years time and beyond, such as the placing of long dated loan notes. An independent board acts as a guardian of shareholder interests and works closely with the Manager to ensure that these long-term objectives are achieved.
• Consistency - The price you pay for a company will determine your long-term stock market returns. Investing over a century has taught us to seek successful global companies that are growing year after year. Buying these companies at the right time and price is key to sustaining our long-term track record.
• Diversification - Diversification is vital when investing globally. We invest across six different regions: UK, Europe (ex UK), North America, Japan, the Pacific region (ex-Japan and China) and China each managed by a regional portfolio manager. Fund Manager Alex Crooke has been with Janus Henderson, the Company's Investment Manager, since 1994 and oversees the investment team. While each regional portfolio manager invests based on their own style, Alex Crooke and his deputy Mike Kerley work closely with each of them to ensure they find the best opportunities.

2 The Bankers Investment Trust PLC Annual Report 2022

Investment Principles

Our principles are aligned with investors seeking to achieve their financial goals by investing for the long-term. There are key advantages to this approach:

Stewardship

1. Long-term investing - 7 reasons why we are aligned with your savings/investment goals:

Strategic Report

1. Benefits of diversification - investing your money across different regions, sectors, and businesses to build a diversified equity portfolio reflects our core investment objective to achieve both capital growth greater than
   the FTSE World Index and dividend growth greater than the UK's Consumer Price Index ('CPI') over the long-term.
2. Time in the market - time in the market beats timing the market. Trying to time the best point during the year to invest is difficult as stock markets are unpredictable over the short-term. We believe that staying invested in good quality companies is more likely to produce good returns over the long term.
3. Beating inflation - inflation is the enemy of returns because it erodes the value of your assets over time. That's why it's essential to have a portfolio that generates strong returns above the rate of inflation and why one of our performance targets is to achieve long-term dividend growth ahead of CPI.
4. Managing risk - we monitor different types of risk - economic, political and investment risk. The Fund Manager and the Board meet regularly to monitor and assess the Company's appropriate level of risk. Core to reducing risk is a globally diversified portfolio resulting from our investment team's best ideas, investing across six geographical regions and eleven different sectors of the stock markets.

1. Compounding benefit- if you reinvest your dividends, you can supercharge your long-term returns because of the power of compounding. Your dividends buy more shares, which increases your dividend next time, which lets you buy even more shares and so on. We focus on global companies that can generate positive returns whilst growing their dividends.
2. Steward of shareholder interests - the independent Board of Directors exists to safeguard the interests of shareholders while leading on governance. The Board is there to ensure that the Fund Manager and the investment team are managing the portfolio to serve shareholders' long-term interests. This covers the appropriate level of risk, the charges paid by shareholders and the level of dividends paid to shareholders annually. See page 34 for a broader definition of the role of the Board.
3. Costs - Fees and ongoing charges can erode your investment returns over time. That is why the Company's ongoing charges are some of the lowest amongst other active investment trusts. We want our shareholders to retain as much of their investment to achieve their long-term financial goals.

The Company's dividend growth as compared to the Retail Prices Index and Consumer Price Index

7,000

6,000

5,000

4,000

%
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
				Dividend per share					Retail Prices Index ('RPI') until 31 October 2020 and the Consumer Price Index ('CPI') from this date
															This is in line with the Company's income objective as defined by the Board

Source: Datastream, Morningstar

The Bankers Investment Trust PLC Annual Report 2022

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