What is the difference between an onshore investment trust and an offshore investment company?
They are both closed end investments quoted on the London Stock Exchange offering shareholders a specific investment objective from a diversified portfolio of investments. There are some differences in tax treatments: the Channel Islands based funds generally issue Dividends gross; whereas UK trusts, as equities, issue dividends net. Both are eligible for an ISA. One important difference is in investment limits: an onshore trust cannot invest more than 15% of its gross assets (at the time of investment) in any one single holding, whilst no such limit applies to the Channel Islands-registered companies.
