Fund Analyst's ISA Picks

ASK THE EXPERT: Morningstar analyst Oliver Kettlewell reveals that he looks at his portfolio as a whole and choose his ISA investments based on asset allocation

Emma Wall 9 April, 2014 | 7:30AM
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Emma Wall: Hello, and welcome to this Ask the Expert - ISA Special. I'm Emma Wall, and here with me today to discuss his new ISA allowance is Morningstar analyst, Oliver Kettlewell.

Hello, Oli.

Oliver Kettlewell: Hello, Emma.

Wall: So happy new tax year!

Kettlewell: Thank you. Same to you.

Wall: I believe you start by looking at your ISA portfolio as a whole, don't you, and looking at asset allocation?

Kettlewell: Yes, that's true. So I'm a fund analyst and I spend all my day looking at funds, but actually the first thing I do with my ISA portfolio is decide how much risk I want to take, and I do that with asset allocation as you said. And I have a fairly conventional asset allocation policy for my own ISA portfolio. I have 60% in equities and 40% in bonds and then I fill funds into the equity portion and the bond allocation, depending on what funds I want.

Wall: So it's important to look at an ISA portfolio historically and not just start each year with that new allocation. So, looking at what you already have, what kind of ideas are you having for this new tax year allowance?

Kettlewell: So for this new tax year allowance, I am still quite positive on the market, but at the same time, given the recent highs we had in the stock markets last year and the lows in yields for bonds, I became a bit on the cautious side. So, three things I am looking at; is adding an absolute return fund to my portfolio; that would reduce the volatility in my overall portfolio.

Second thing I am looking at is to slightly reduce my fixed income exposure or the bond allocation I was talking about, because I think that bonds probably haven’t got as much an upside as equities have.

And then thirdly on to that last point, I think I'm going to slightly increase my equity allocation, particularly looking at global equity and funds which have a quality bias, because quality as a style has lagged the last few years, so I think that could come back into favour in the future.

Wall: Is there any particular absolute return fund you're looking at?

Kettlewell: Yes, there is. The Henderson UK Absolute Return equity fund is one I am looking at. So I think that's the one that could well dampen the volatility in my portfolio.

Wall: And what about when you're looking at global equities with a quality bias?

Kettlewell: Yes. I think the Veritas Global Focus fund is probably the one that I will add to. It's already in my portfolio. On a relative basis it has lacked global peers. It has had a very strong absolute return for the sort of two, three years since I have owned it, but it has lagged. But I think there is an important point to make that even if a fund is lacking in relative terms, relative to peers, investors shouldn't be put off with the fund, and they shouldn't be afraid to add allocation which is what I am doing now, but I think its style could be coming into favour.

Wall: Oli, thank you very much.

Kettlewell: Thank you.

Wall: This is Emma Wall for Morningstar. Thank you for watching.

The information contained within is for educational and informational purposes ONLY. It is not intended nor should it be considered an invitation or inducement to buy or sell a security or securities noted within nor should it be viewed as a communication intended to persuade or incite you to buy or sell security or securities noted within. Any commentary provided is the opinion of the author and should not be considered a personalised recommendation. The information contained within should not be a person's sole basis for making an investment decision. Please contact your financial professional before making an investment decision.

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Securities Mentioned in Article

Security NamePriceChange (%)Morningstar
Rating
Janus Henderson Absolute Return A Acc188.40 GBP0.21
Veritas Global Focus GBP Retl54.26 GBP0.86Rating

About Author

Emma Wall  is former Senior International Editor for Morningstar

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