Earlier this year we mentioned that one of the possible side effects of the widening discounts in the investment trust world was M&A activity.

And so it has come to pass, with LXI Reit, the most popular Reit in our database, in merger talks with LondonMetric Property.

Before markets opened today LXI, which owns Warwick Castle and Alton Towers, had a discount of 11 per cent which is actually quite modest for its sector, which has an average discount of 18 per cent.

It compares favourably to the 40 per cent discount of Abrdn Property Income Trust and the 37 per cent discount of Balanced Commercial Property.

After markets opened, LXI's discount narrowed to 7 per cent.

If the merger was to go ahead it would create one of the UK's largest listed landlords with a market cap of about £4bn which would be big enough to make it a FTSE 100 component.

LXI is held by just two allocators in our database and the fact this makes it the joint most popular Reit in our database suggests what the DFMs we cover might think of these vehicles (LXI is tied at the top with Impact Healthcare Reit).

It probably doesn't help that the number of Reits is going down, with LXI itself having bought Secure Income Reit in 2022 and LondonMetric completing the buy-out of CT Property Trust earlier this year.

These days, the most popular property funds in our database are ones which invest in the sector indirectly - or at least used a mixed approach - often by holding Reits themselves.

RM Alternative Income is the most popular fund of this type, with four allocators holding it. Schroder Global Cities Real Estate is owned by three allocators while CT Property Growth & Income and Gravis UK Listed Property are each owned by two.