JPMICT launched with approximately £108 million of gross assets

JPMorgan Income & Capital Trust plc (the “Company” or “JPMICT”) will be launched on Monday following a successful fund raising and reconstruction of its predecessor company, JPMorgan Income & Capital Investment Trust, at the end of that company’s planned life. The new investment trust will be managed by JPMorgan Asset Management (JPMAM), the leading provider of investment trusts.

The last date that shareholders in JPMorgan Income & Capital Investment Trust were able to make an election was 18 February 2008 and the results of those elections and the placing and offer of shares in the Company show that JPMICT will have initial gross assets of £108.3 million. Elections and applications under the placing and offer for Ordinary Shares and Units have been fully satisfied. Those for Zero Dividend Preference Shares have been subject to scaling back to balance the capital structure of the new company

David Barron, head of investment trusts at JPMAM said: “By raising and rolling over £108 million, we have confirmed our long held belief that well-structured transparent split capital investment trusts can hold strong appeal for investors. This view is clearly supported by the substantial majority of shareholders that are supporting the new Company by rolling over their investments. The new Company will strive to build on the success of its predecessor in providing strong capital growth and together with a regular quarterly income for shareholders.”

“This is the second successful rollover of a split capital investment trust that JPMorgan Asset Management has completed within two years, further demonstrating our leadership in the industry and illustrating the trust and faith that the Shareholders have in JPMorgan Asset Management’s stewardship of investment trusts.”

JPMICT will be a new closed-ended investment company incorporated in England and shares in the new Company will begin trading on 3 March 2008. It will have a fixed life of 10 years and will end on 28 February 2018. Its Board of Directors will be the same as that of the existing company.

Commenting on the results of the rollover, Sir Laurence Magnus, Chairman of the new Company said: “We are very pleased with the level of support that we have received from shareholders. Based on the current value of the assets, we anticipate that the new company will have assets of approximately £108 million. This highly successful rollover underlines the place that still exists for split capital investment trusts in many portfolios.”

Offering investors the choice of 19 investment trusts, JPMAM is the UK’s largest investment trust manager, with over £6.2bn in assets under management, as at 31 January 2008.