■ Charlemagne Magna New Frontiers
Managed by Stefan Böttcher and the team, this fund looks for countries that are going through reform processes, which normally generate excess economic growth. It then searches for companies with strong management teams in a good corporate governance structure. The fund has been well supported by its country and sector calls, with exposure to Argentina and a strong overweight in utilities proving beneficial. The team has also made some good stock selections within both the healthcare and consumer spaces.
■ Royal London Sterling Extra Yield Bond
This strategy is an interesting slant on the more traditional benchmark-oriented corporate bond funds, investing in a broad spectrum of opportunities in investment-grade and sub-investment-grade credit. It often takes advantage of the opaqueness of unrated and less liquid issues. Performance has been strong since its launch, and the vehicle has consistently delivered yields of 7 per cent and above, making it very attractive for income-seeking investors.
■ Old Mutual UK Mid Cap
This is a dynamic, style-agnostic fund targeting both growth and value opportunities across all sectors, although it tends to look quite growth-focused given the nature of the FTSE 250 index. Risk-adjusted returns have been very good over the years. The manager Richard Watts has a particular talent for identifying those rare high-alpha growth opportunities, where a perceived rich valuation may deter his peers. While the strategy is bottom-up, Mr Watts is very adept at assessing the macro climate and shifting his positioning accordingly.
Tony Lawrence, investment manager, Seven Investment Management
■ Hermes Global Emerging Markets
Hermes is a fund house well known for its integration of environmental, social and governance considerations into the investment process. Emerging markets is an area where this is particularly relevant, and Gary Greenberg uses his vast industry experience to deftly weave this into a process that focuses on blending top-down country analysis with thorough bottom-up stock research. The resulting portfolio is more style-agnostic than most in the space while still exhibiting strong quality characteristics.
■ Man GLG Japan Core Alpha
Stephen Harker has been managing this strategy for more than a decade now and has consistently bettered his peers and index alike. You know exactly what you will get with this fund – exposure to large unloved Japanese companies, trading at big discounts to their true value. This is an approach that is typically well-rewarded in Japan and the team is skilled at finding stocks that offer contrarian appeal with great upside potential.
