Investment trusts rated Gold, Silver or Bronze have been tipped for success in the future by Morningstar analysts. Based on five criteria; the quality of the fund manager, their process, the price, past performance and the parent company analysts determine which funds likely to outperform their peers over the medium term.
These three investment trusts are rated Silver or Bronze by Morningstar Fund Analysts – but have recently underperformed their category peers. Could this mean they are priced at a discount and due a rally? Always consider your risk appetite and a fund’s suitability before investing.
Asian Total Return Investment Company (ATR)
The fund is co-managed by an experienced duo in Robin Parbrook and King Fuei Lee, with the former responsible for picking stocks and the latter for managing the quant model and hedging strategies. Parbrook brings 23 years of investment experience, exclusively with Schroders.
He joined the firm in 1990 as an analyst in London and has held various fund management roles across Schroders' global offices before moving permanently to Hong Kong in 2010. As head of Asia ex-Japan equities, Parbrook interacts intensively with the team to discuss stock ideas. The Asia Pacific equity team has 28 analysts averaging 15 years of experience. Research responsibilities are divided by countries and sectors, and this is one of the more well-resourced teams in the region.
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM)
Evy Hambro joined Mercury Asset Management, which became BlackRock, in 1993 and has been in charge of this fund officially since September 2000. However, he has been involved with the fund since its launch in 1993. He is also responsible for the management of several gold and mining portfolios and is co-manager of the natural resources hedge fund.
He brings an outstanding pedigree in his field and his entire career has been focused on the analysis of precious metals and mining stocks. He has helped build the natural resources team at BlackRock, one of the best-resourced that in the industry, comprising around 15 investment professionals.
Montanaro European Smaller (MTE)
Charles Montanaro, founder and CIO of Montanaro, ran this fund from the time of its reorganisation in September 2006, when his firm won the mandate until the end of 2011. The firm hosts a team of around 10 analysts and managers with an average experience of more than 10 years.
They are organised by pan-European sector. In mid-2011, a number of analysts were also given small pools of assets to run in segregated portfolios. This helps gauge their level of conviction in stocks they recommend, and it is also linked to their compensation. They maintain a further list of about 200 approved stocks, making their research integral to fund performance.