BlackRock Gold and General
This fund continues to be a strong choice for investors seeking mainstream gold and precious-metals equity exposure in a risk-controlled manner, says Morningstar analyst Fatima Khizou.
The long-term record indicates that Evy Hambro has been successful in adding value by applying the outcome of the team’s detailed commodity and company analysis in a risk- and liquidity-aware manner. At the company level, the valuation analysis is rigorous and aims to find companies offering the best exposure to commodity prices within an acceptable level of risk. This leads to an emphasis on large producers with the ability to grow their production in a relatively low-cost manner.
Lindsell Train UK Equity
Analyst Simon Dorricott believes CF Lindsell Train UK Equity benefits from the stewardship of a seasoned and talented UK equity manager who has demonstrated a consistent approach.
Nick Train's process is differentiated and has proved successful over a number of market cycles. He looks for unique and high-quality companies that offer a high and sustainable return on equity and low capital intensity and are cash-generative.
The result is a concentrated portfolio with clear biases relative to peers and the FTSE All-Share Index. Turnover is low, reflecting Train's long-term approach and his buy-and-hold style. He only sells out if he no longer considers a company to be of sufficient quality.
First State Indian Subcontinent
Morningstar’s Mark Laidlaw believes First State Indian Subcontinent deserves to be viewed as best in class. Preferred companies are those that have quality and trustworthy management, have sustainable earnings drivers and are not trading at inflated valuations. It’s no surprise that that most of the investable universe fail to meet the exacting standards set down by the investment team.
The portfolio’s holdings provides an insight into how the team thinks; the end portfolio bears little resemblance to either the wider peer group or the MSCI India Index.
Fundsmith Equity
This is one of the strongest options for investors seeking exposure to high quality global equities, says Morningstar analyst Pete Brunt.
Terry Smith's investment philosophy is to buy and hold, ideally forever, high-quality businesses that will continually compound in value. High-quality companies are defined as having little need for leverage, an above-average cash return on operating capital employed, and an ability to sustainably grow at this rate of return.
When considering these criteria, and a minimum $2 billion market cap to keep the strategy scalable, the investable universe is significantly reduced to a shortlist of around 65 names for deep-dive analysis.
Schroder Tokyo
Schroder Tokyo remains one of the strongest funds for Japanese equities, says Brunt. Andrew Rose has run Japanese-equity portfolios since the 1980s and is one of the most experienced equity managers in the peer group.
Rose has adhered to the same process throughout his career. He has a forward-looking view and prefers companies that he believes have the potential to surprise on the upside over a two- to three-year period but where the market has taken a short-term negative view.
Rose also displays a sensible awareness of macro trends and market behaviour, which, in our view, is a strong complement to his bottom-up stock-picking.
