Commentary
Of the 30 funds in March's BOTB, 20 funds have retained their place in April's selection. The chart below shows the average performance of the BOTB during March (the green line) against a benchmark that is calculated using the respective sector averages for each fund in the BOTB and assuming the same asset mix (the orange line). You can see that the BOTB outperformed its benchmark once again.
The chart also shows how the selection performed versus the average professionally managed fund from the Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares sector and the Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares sector. The former is typically more cautious than the BOTB given its lower equity exposure while the latter tends to be more adventurous. You can see that the BOTB avoided the market falls in early March but also rallied more strongly when markets rebounded. This is in large part thanks to the BOTB's multi-asset approach which includes commodities, which have performed strongly over the last month. An asset class that most professionally managed funds don't have exposure to.
The chart below shows the top seven performers from March's BOTB. It is pleasing to see that three of the funds are within my own £50k portfolio.
| Fund | March performance % |
| Barings Global Agriculture | 14.52 |
| BlackRock Natural Resources Growth & Income | 14.2 |
| Invesco Emerging Markets ex China (UK) | 13.52 |
| Ninety One Global Gold | 12.35 |
| TB Guinness Global Energy | 10.89 |
| Fidelity American Special Situations | 8.38 |
| M&G Global Dividend | 7.03 |
At the other end of the scale, only 2 funds made a loss in March and unsurprisingly they were both bond funds. If you recall bonds have endured their worst quarter for decades and the BOTB selection has had limited exposure to them in recent months. Two of the funds (Thesis TM Tellworth UK Select and Premier Miton Defensive Growth) are in the low-risk portion of my £50k portfolio and I am happy that they have produced a positive return (albeit small) in an environment where bonds have struggled.
| Fund | March performance % |
| Premier Miton Defensive Growth | 0.96 |
| Thesis TM Tellworth UK Select | 0.64 |
| Royal London Diversified Asset-Backed Securities | 0.45 |
| Royal London Short Duration Global Index Linked | 0 |
| TwentyFour Monument Bond | -0.36 |
| M&G Short Dated Corporate Bond | -0.64 |
This month's selection sees the equity exposure remain around 60%. The biggest change was the complete removal of exposure to European equities, a result of the impact of the ongoing war in Ukraine, as well as the removal of Asian equity exposure (including Japan). The BOTB has an increased exposure to commodities, and still includes exposure to gold miners. The low-risk end of the selection still has a focus on targeted absolute return funds and mixed asset funds, but bond funds have crept back into the mix.
At the foot of this article, you can see how the 80-20 Investor selection continues to outperform the professional fund managers as well as the market since its launch seven years ago.
Below I list this month's selection in full with the 20 funds that regained their place in black while the new additions are in green. As usual, I have included the full list sorted alphabetically by name and then by risk category.
April's Best of the Best Selection - (A-Z by fund name)
(funds unchanged from last month are in black while new additions are in green)
| Name | Sector | ISIN Code | Risk |
| ASI Global Real Estate Share | Property Other | GB00B7MR5W47 | High risk |
| ASI Latin American Equity | Latin America | GB00B41QSW23 | High risk |
| ASI World Income Equity | Global Equity Income | GB00B3N9CY25 | Medium risk |
| Barings Global Agriculture | Commodity/Natural Resources | GB00B3B9V927 | High risk |
| BlackRock Natural Resources Growth & Income | Commodity/Natural Resources | GB00B6865B79 | High risk |
| BM SVS Brooks Macdonald Defensive Capital | Targeted Absolute Return | GB00B61MR835 | Low risk |
| Close Diversified Income Portfolio | Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares | GB00B708TJ43 | Low risk |
| Courtiers Total Return Cautious Risk | Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares | GB00B1P2K418 | Low risk |
| Fidelity American Special Situations | North America | GB00B89ST706 | Medium risk |
| Fidelity Index US | North America | GB00BJS8SH10 | High risk |
| Fidelity Moneybuilder Balanced | Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares | GB00B7XJFX07 | Low risk |
| FP Foresight Sustainable Real Estate Securities | Property Other | GB00BMFYBB80 | High risk |
| FP Russell Investments Real Assets | Flexible Investment | GB00B4KQS127 | Medium risk |
| Invesco UK Opportunities (UK) | UK All Companies | GB00B1W7HM62 | Medium risk |
| JPM Natural Resources | Commodity/Natural Resources | GB0031835118 | High risk |
| JPM US Equity Income | North America | GB00B3FJQ151 | Medium risk |
| M&G Global Listed Infrastructure | Infrastructure | GB00BF00R928 | Medium risk |
| Ninety One Global Gold | Specialist | GB00B1XFGM25 | High risk |
| Premier Miton Defensive Growth | Targeted Absolute Return | GB00B832BD89 | Low risk |
| Royal London Global Equity Select | Global | GB00BF93W972 | Medium risk |
| Royal London GMAP Balanced | Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares | GB00BD8RSQ51 | Low risk |
| Royal London Short Duration Global Index Linked | Global Bonds | GB00BD050F05 | Low risk |
| Royal London UK Income With Growth Trust | Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares | GB0001598050 | Medium risk |
| Schroder Income | UK Equity Income | GB00B3PM1190 | Medium risk |
| Schroder MM Diversity | Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares | GB00B60CZD52 | Low risk |
| T. Rowe Price Dynamic Global Bond | Targeted Absolute Return | GB00BD0NLR34 | Low risk |
| TB Guinness Global Energy | Commodity/Natural Resources | GB00B56FW078 | High risk |
| Thesis TM Tellworth UK Select | Targeted Absolute Return | GB00BNY7YM73 | Low risk |
| Vanguard FTSE UK Equity Income Index | UK Equity Income | GB00B59G4H82 | Medium risk |
| VT Price Value Portfolio | Global | GB00BWZMTX09 | High risk |
April's Best of the Best Selection - (grouped by risk)
Here is April's shortlist grouped by their risk category (funds unchanged from last month are in black while new additions are in green):
| Name | Sector | ISIN Code | Risk |
| BM SVS Brooks Macdonald Defensive Capital | Targeted Absolute Return | GB00B61MR835 | Low risk |
| Close Diversified Income Portfolio | Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares | GB00B708TJ43 | Low risk |
| Courtiers Total Return Cautious Risk | Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares | GB00B1P2K418 | Low risk |
| Fidelity Moneybuilder Balanced | Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares | GB00B7XJFX07 | Low risk |
| Premier Miton Defensive Growth | Targeted Absolute Return | GB00B832BD89 | Low risk |
| Royal London GMAP Balanced | Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares | GB00BD8RSQ51 | Low risk |
| Royal London Short Duration Global Index Linked | Global Bonds | GB00BD050F05 | Low risk |
| Schroder MM Diversity | Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares | GB00B60CZD52 | Low risk |
| T. Rowe Price Dynamic Global Bond | Targeted Absolute Return | GB00BD0NLR34 | Low risk |
| Thesis TM Tellworth UK Select | Targeted Absolute Return | GB00BNY7YM73 | Low risk |
| ASI World Income Equity | Global Equity Income | GB00B3N9CY25 | Medium risk |
| Fidelity American Special Situations | North America | GB00B89ST706 | Medium risk |
| FP Russell Investments Real Assets | Flexible Investment | GB00B4KQS127 | Medium risk |
| Invesco UK Opportunities (UK) | UK All Companies | GB00B1W7HM62 | Medium risk |
| JPM US Equity Income | North America | GB00B3FJQ151 | Medium risk |
| M&G Global Listed Infrastructure | Infrastructure | GB00BF00R928 | Medium risk |
| Royal London Global Equity Select | Global | GB00BF93W972 | Medium risk |
| Royal London UK Income With Growth Trust | Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares | GB0001598050 | Medium risk |
| Schroder Income | UK Equity Income | GB00B3PM1190 | Medium risk |
| Vanguard FTSE UK Equity Income Index | UK Equity Income | GB00B59G4H82 | Medium risk |
| ASI Global Real Estate Share | Property Other | GB00B7MR5W47 | High risk |
| ASI Latin American Equity | Latin America | GB00B41QSW23 | High risk |
| Barings Global Agriculture | Commodity/Natural Resources | GB00B3B9V927 | High risk |
| BlackRock Natural Resources Growth & Income | Commodity/Natural Resources | GB00B6865B79 | High risk |
| Fidelity Index US | North America | GB00BJS8SH10 | High risk |
| FP Foresight Sustainable Real Estate Securities | Property Other | GB00BMFYBB80 | High risk |
| JPM Natural Resources | Commodity/Natural Resources | GB0031835118 | High risk |
| Ninety One Global Gold | Specialist | GB00B1XFGM25 | High risk |
| TB Guinness Global Energy | Commodity/Natural Resources | GB00B56FW078 | High risk |
| VT Price Value Portfolio | Global | GB00BWZMTX09 | High risk |
The funds that dropped out of the Best of the Best Selection
For reference, the funds from last month that dropped out of the 80-20 Investor Best of the Best list are listed below:
| Name | Sector | ISIN Code | Risk |
| Invesco Latin American (UK) | Latin America | GB00B3RW8X82 | High risk |
| M&G Global Dividend | Global | GB00B46J9127 | Medium risk |
| M&G Short Dated Corporate Bond | Sterling Corporate Bond | GB0031110397 | Low risk |
| Man GLG Japan Core Alpha | Japan | GB00B3F46Y30 | High risk |
| Royal London Diversified Asset-Backed Securities | Targeted Absolute Return | GB00B4K6P774 | Low risk |
| Sarasin Global Higher Dividend | Global Equity Income | GB00B84ZSV39 | High risk |
| Schroder European Recovery | Europe Excluding UK | GB0007221889 | High risk |
| TwentyFour Monument Bond | Specialist | GB00B3V5V897 | Low risk |
| UBS UK Equity Income | UK Equity Income | GB00B4W58959 | Medium risk |
| VT De Lisle America | North America | GB00B3QF3G69 | High risk |
The Asset mix
The current asset mix of the new Best of the Best Selection is shown below with last month's figures in brackets:
- Global Fixed Interest 12% (11%)
- Alternatives 21% (25%) - includes absolute return strategies & some bond exposure
- UK Corporate Fixed Interest (i.e UK bonds) 0% (3%)
- Emerging Market Fixed Income 0% (0%)
- North American Equities 13% (10%)
- European Equities 0% (4%)
- Chinese Equities 0% (0%)
- Japanese Equities 0% (3%)
- Property 8% (4%)
- UK Equities 17% (19%)
- Gilts 0% (0%)
- Cash 4% (0%)
- Asian / Emerging market equities 6% (3%)
- Other international equities 3% (4%)
- Commodities and Energy 16% (14%)
80-20 Investor's outperformance continues
As you know the Best of the Best Selection is the shortlist of the best funds highlighted by our 80-20 Investor algorithm split into high, medium and low-risk categories. This shortlist is updated at the start of every month.
The green line in the chart below (click to enlarge) shows how a portfolio would have performed since inception (in August 2014) if it had been split equally between the Best of the Best Selection funds and then switched each month when each new shortlist was published. I have also charted the performance against that of a FTSE 100 tracker fund (the black line) and the average cautious managed fund (blue line) and the average managed fund with up to 85% equity exposure (red line). In reality, the 80-20 Investor's asset allocation typically lies between these two as it usually has 40-60% exposure to equities at any one time. So they provide a good comparison of how fund managers with a similar remit have fared over the same period.
As you can see, since launch in August 2014 the 80-20 Investor portfolio has outperformed the average managed fund and the market.
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