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Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (SMT.L)

Unknown Balanced

Scottish Mortgage is a giant investment pot that puts money into some of the world's most ambitious, fast-growing technology and innovation companies.

£13.30

Is Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust a good stock for a UK beginner?

The honest version: Scottish Mortgage is a giant investment pot that puts money into some of the world's most ambitious, fast-growing technology and innovation companies.

No rating · no target price · nothing for sale here
Price+53.9%
52-week range+25% past year
£13.30
Low £10.16High £15.63
Where today's price sits versus its past year - context, not a signal.
If you had put £1,000 into Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust
£1,539+54%

Over about 2 years to 2026-07-31. This is the share price only; any dividends would add to it. Past performance is not a guide to the future, and it could just as easily have fallen.

Market cap: The company's total value on the stock market - share price times the number of shares. Big = 'large-cap', small = 'small-cap'.
£14.29B
Avg volume: How many shares change hands on a typical day. Higher means it's easy to buy or exit without moving the price.
3.94M
Day range: The lowest and highest price the shares traded at during the latest day.
£13.21 – £13.44
52-week range: The lowest and highest the shares have traded over the past year - a sense of how wide the swings have been.
£10.16 – £15.63
P/E ratio: Price-to-earnings: the share price divided by yearly profit per share. Lower can mean cheaper; higher often means investors expect fast growth.
4.8
Dividend yield: The yearly dividend as a percentage of the share price - roughly the income you'd earn from dividends alone.
0.0%
Why has it been moving?▼ -1% past week · ▲ +25% past year

Prices move on results, news and the mood of the whole market - no single headline explains a day, and a quiet week is usually just noise, not a signal.

The bull case

Several portfolio companies become dominant global leaders.

The bear case

A prolonged period where innovation fails to deliver profits.

What does Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust do?

Think of this as a curated collection of high-growth businesses, ranging from household names like Amazon to private companies that aren't yet on the stock market. Instead of making money from dividends, the trust aims to grow the value of its investments over many years. Notice how these 'big idea' companies perform, since they tend to be more sensitive to changes in interest rates and global economic moods.

VQGMI
Factor profile

On our factor screen it looks strongest on value and momentum, and weakest on income.

Value: How cheap the stock looks versus profits, sales and assets (higher = cheaper). 84Quality: How profitable and financially healthy the company is (higher = stronger). —Growth: How fast revenue and earnings are growing (higher = faster). —Momentum: How the share price has been trending recently (higher = stronger recent run). 43Income: The dividend income on offer and how sustainable it looks (higher = more/steadier). 10
Quick checks
What's strong
  • Value screens high (84/100)
  • Access to private companies not available to most individual investors
  • A long-term focus that ignores short-term market noise
  • Exposure to world-changing innovation and technology
What to watch
  • Income screens low (10/100)
  • High sensitivity to interest rate changes
  • The risk that 'big idea' companies fail to become profitable
  • Market sentiment can swing wildly for growth-focused investments

What do Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust's numbers mean?

P/E
5.1
This shows how much you are paying for every pound of the company's earnings, though for an investment trust, this figure can be less meaningful than for a standard shop or factory.
P/B
1.1
This compares the share price to the value of the assets held inside the trust; a number near 1 suggests the price is roughly in line with the value of its underlying investments.
Dividend yield
0.0%
The trust does not pay out cash to shareholders, choosing instead to reinvest all its gains back into finding new growth opportunities.
Market cap
£15.3B
This is the total value of the trust if you were to add up the price of all its shares, making it one of the largest investment trusts in the UK.

Does Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust pay a dividend?

No - Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust doesn't currently pay a dividend, so the whole return would rest on the share price. Plenty of growing companies reinvest their profits instead of paying them out - neither approach is better or worse, they're just different.

More in Unknown

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What are the scenarios for Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust?

An illustrative range for the year ahead, with the assumption behind each case — not a prediction or a price target.

£16£13£10today · £13▲ Bull · £14• Base · £13▼ Bear · £12in 1 yearILLUSTRATIVE · NOT A PREDICTION OR PRICE TARGET
Bull
+5% to +10%A sudden surge in optimism for the tech sector.
Base
-2% to +2%Market stays steady with no major news.
Bear
-5% to -10%Rising interest rates dampen enthusiasm for growth stocks.

What are the pros and cons of Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust?

3bull points
6bear points

How many points the write-up makes each way — a balance check, not a score or verdict.

The bull case3
  • Access to private companies not available to most individual investors
  • A long-term focus that ignores short-term market noise
  • Exposure to world-changing innovation and technology
The catch3
  • No dividend income for those looking for regular cash
  • Can be quite volatile compared to more traditional, stable companies
  • Performance is heavily tied to the success of a few large bets
Key risks3
  • High sensitivity to interest rate changes
  • The risk that 'big idea' companies fail to become profitable
  • Market sentiment can swing wildly for growth-focused investments
What would flip the thesis

The write-up's own warning lights — if these start happening, the case above changes.

Confidence: medium · data: GBP · flags: forward_pe, ps, gross_margin, net_margin, roe, revenue_growth, earnings_growth · Charts by TradingView Lightweight Charts™
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Built from public filings & market prices, checked for an education-only tone, and never a price target. How we make these →

This plain-English summary was auto-generated on 2026-08-01 from public data and checked for an education-only, no-advice tone (the figures above carry their own, usually fresher, 'as of' date). It's information, never a recommendation.

Figures as of 2026-08-01. Prices may be delayed and numbers can go stale - always double-check before acting.