80-20 Investor Best of the Best Selection – April 2022 Update

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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