SOME of Scotland's largest investment trusts have shifted millions of pounds from UK shares to companies overseas.

Figures published by the Association of Investment Companies showed that, within the global growth sector, the £2.5 billion Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, run by Baillie Gifford in Edinburgh, has slashed its UK exposure by more than two-thirds from 35% to 10% in five years.

Dundee-based Alliance Trust, which has £3.2bn of assets, had more than half (52%) invested in the UK but has cut this to barely a third (34%). Meanwhile, the self-managed Personal Assets Trust had 57% of assets invested in the UK in April 2006. The famously cautious trust has just 26% of its £296 million of assets invested at home.

For the global growth sector in general, while the UK is still the most popular market, exposure has been slashed from an average of 42% five years ago to 32% as of April 30.

In contrast, managers have upped their weighting to Asia (excluding Japan) from 8% to 12%. For instance, Baillie Gifford’s £190m Edinburgh Worldwide trust had just 1% invested in China five years ago but this has increased to 16%. Scottish Mortgage’s exposure to the world’s most populated country has increased from 5% to 14%.

Investment in Europe has risen over the last five years from an average of 15% to 19%. The £1.2bn Monks Investment Trust, run by Baillie Gifford, has seen its exposure to the region rise from 10% to 17% while Personal Assets Trust has gone from zero to 4%.

Fund managers are also allocating more to North America, which has risen from an 18% weighting five years ago to 22% today. However, exposure to Japan has fallen from 8% to 4%.