80-20 Investor Best of the Best Selection – February 2025 Update

Commentary

Of the 30 funds in January's BOTB selection 15 funds have retained their place this month. While this is the lowest number for some time, the BOTB still performed very strongly during January, with the average return across the selection being over 3%. However, as you can see in the chart below, January's BOTB lagged its benchmarks after it took a hit following the launch of the new Chinese DeepSeek AI model, which sent US tech stocks into a tailspin. Ultimately, the selection did recover to finish the month at a new all-time high, as shown in the chart at the foot of this article. In fact, the BOTB has now crossed the 100% profit mark, meaning that it has now doubled in value since its inception in 2014.

Digging deeper into the performance of the funds within the BOTB during January, the table below highlights the top performers. These were mostly made up of funds with US exposure (so they benefited from the slump in the pound versus the US dollar) but with limited or no exposure to big US tech stocks (so avoiding the DeepSeek damage). It is good to see that 2 of the funds listed are in my own £50k portfolio.

Fund	January 2025 % return
Artemis Global Income	7.25
Ninety One UK Equity Income	6.07
M&G Global Dividend	5.67
Fidelity American	5.55
Troy Asset Management Ltd Trojan Global Income	5.29

At the other end of the scale you can see that only three funds from January's BOTB lost money, which goes to show just how good a month it was. The bottom two funds both have significant exposure to Indian equities which have endured their worst four-month period of losses in over two decades, due to weak earnings results and concerns over US trade tariffs.

Fund	January 2025 % return
abrdn High Yield Bond	0.65
CT High Yield Bond	0.58
Man Absolute Value Fund	-0.81
FSSA Asia Focus	-1.08
Schroder Asian Discovery	-2.11

In terms of February's asset mix, it is not much different to the asset mix from January. However, the most notable difference is the shift from global equity funds to global equity income funds. This is a reflection of the vulnerability we've seen in the AI-theme and large US tech stocks. Global equity income funds tend to focus on companies that pay reliable dividends and as such tend not to have exposure to US tech stocks. The one notable change in the asset mix is the removal of any direct exposure to Japanese equites.

Below I list this month's selection in full with the 15 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.

February'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
Artemis Global Income	Global Equity Income	GB00B5N99561	Medium risk
Artemis UK Select	UK All Companies	GB00B2PLJG05	Higher risk
Aviva Inv Continental European Equity	Europe Excluding UK	GB0004457973	Medium risk
AXA Framlington American Growth	North America	GB00B5LXGG05	Higher risk
AXA Framlington Global Technology	Technology & Technology Innovation	GB00B4W52V57	Higher risk
Baillie Gifford China	China/Greater China	GB00B39RML74	Higher risk
Baillie Gifford High Yield Bond	Sterling High Yield	GB0030816606	Lower risk
BNY Mellon Global High Yield Bond	Sterling High Yield	GB00B7KWF216	Lower risk
BNY Mellon Global Opportunities	Global	GB00B83R9Z17	Medium risk
BNY Mellon Real Return	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00B8GG4B61	Lower risk
CT Emerging Market Bond	Global EM Bonds - Hard Currency	GB0002365608	Lower risk
Fidelity American	North America	GB00B8GPC429	Higher risk
Fidelity Global Dividend	Global Equity Income	GB00B7778087	Medium risk
Fidelity Index Pacific ex Japan	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00BHZK8G51	Higher risk
Invesco Asian (UK)	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B1W7HW60	Higher risk
Invesco Global Equity Income (UK)	Global Equity Income	GB00B3FD1Z66	Medium risk
Invesco Global Ex UK Enhanced Index (UK)	Global	GB00BZ8GWQ44	Medium risk
Invesco High Yield (UK)	Sterling High Yield	GB00B3RW7649	Lower risk
Jupiter China	China/Greater China	GB00B1DTDX49	Higher risk
Jupiter Merian Global Equity	Global	GB00B1XG8F22	Medium risk
L&G Strategic Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B1TWMW95	Lower risk
M&G Recovery	UK All Companies	GB00B7759Y38	Medium risk
Man High Yield Opportunities Fund	Sterling High Yield	GB00BJK3W057	Lower risk
Sarasin Global Dividend	Global Equity Income	GB00BGDF8F44	Medium risk
Sarasin Global Equity Real Return	Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares	GB00B7W4B053	Medium risk
Schroder High Yield Opportunities	Sterling High Yield	GB00B83RDY83	Lower risk
Schroder Managed Wealth Portfolio	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B84YNB54	Lower risk
T. Rowe Price US Large Cap Growth Equity	North America	GB00BD5FHW12	Higher risk
Thesis TM Tellworth UK Select	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00BNY7YM73	Lower risk
UBS US Growth	North America	GB00B7VHZX64	Higher risk

February's Best of the Best Selection - (grouped by risk)

Here is February'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
Baillie Gifford High Yield Bond	Sterling High Yield	GB0030816606	Lower risk
BNY Mellon Global High Yield Bond	Sterling High Yield	GB00B7KWF216	Lower risk
BNY Mellon Real Return	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00B8GG4B61	Lower risk
CT Emerging Market Bond	Global EM Bonds - Hard Currency	GB0002365608	Lower risk
Invesco High Yield (UK)	Sterling High Yield	GB00B3RW7649	Lower risk
L&G Strategic Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B1TWMW95	Lower risk
Man High Yield Opportunities Fund	Sterling High Yield	GB00BJK3W057	Lower risk
Schroder High Yield Opportunities	Sterling High Yield	GB00B83RDY83	Lower risk
Schroder Managed Wealth Portfolio	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B84YNB54	Lower risk
Thesis TM Tellworth UK Select	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00BNY7YM73	Lower risk
Artemis Global Income	Global Equity Income	GB00B5N99561	Medium risk
Aviva Inv Continental European Equity	Europe Excluding UK	GB0004457973	Medium risk
BNY Mellon Global Opportunities	Global	GB00B83R9Z17	Medium risk
Fidelity Global Dividend	Global Equity Income	GB00B7778087	Medium risk
Invesco Global Equity Income (UK)	Global Equity Income	GB00B3FD1Z66	Medium risk
Invesco Global Ex UK Enhanced Index (UK)	Global	GB00BZ8GWQ44	Medium risk
Jupiter Merian Global Equity	Global	GB00B1XG8F22	Medium risk
M&G Recovery	UK All Companies	GB00B7759Y38	Medium risk
Sarasin Global Dividend	Global Equity Income	GB00BGDF8F44	Medium risk
Sarasin Global Equity Real Return	Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares	GB00B7W4B053	Medium risk
Artemis UK Select	UK All Companies	GB00B2PLJG05	Higher risk
AXA Framlington American Growth	North America	GB00B5LXGG05	Higher risk
AXA Framlington Global Technology	Technology & Technology Innovation	GB00B4W52V57	Higher risk
Baillie Gifford China	China/Greater China	GB00B39RML74	Higher risk
Fidelity American	North America	GB00B8GPC429	Higher risk
Fidelity Index Pacific ex Japan	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00BHZK8G51	Higher risk
Invesco Asian (UK)	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B1W7HW60	Higher risk
Jupiter China	China/Greater China	GB00B1DTDX49	Higher risk
T. Rowe Price US Large Cap Growth Equity	North America	GB00BD5FHW12	Higher risk
UBS US Growth	North America	GB00B7VHZX64	Higher 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
abrdn High Yield Bond	Sterling High Yield	GB0000938844	Lower risk
Artemis SmartGARP UK Equity	UK All Companies	GB00B2PLJM64	Medium risk
AXA Framlington Fintech	Financials and Financial Innovation	GB00B5BHKC62	Higher risk
Barclays Global Markets Balanced	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B4Z0MR31	Lower risk
CT High Yield Bond	Sterling High Yield	GB0008371014	Lower risk
Fidelity Index World	Global	GB00BJS8SJ34	Medium risk
FSSA Asia Focus	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00BWNGXJ86	Higher risk
L&G Global Technology Index Trust	Technology & Technology Innovation	GB00B0CNH163	Higher risk
M&G Global Dividend	Global Equity Income	GB00B46J9127	Medium risk
Man Group Man Absolute Value	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00BF1X8084	Lower risk
Man Group Man Japan CoreAlpha	Japan	GB00B0119B50	Higher risk
Man Group Man Sterling Corporate Bond	Sterling Corporate Bond	GB00BNLYQX62	Lower risk
Ninety One UK Equity Income	UK All Companies	GB00BV9G3J51	Medium risk
Schroder Asian Discovery	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B5ZS9V71	Medium risk
Troy Asset Management Ltd Trojan Global Income	Global Equity Income	GB00BD82KP33	Medium 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 18% (20%)
• UK Fixed Interest 5% (3%)
• Alternatives 10% (10%) - includes absolute return strategies
• North American Equities 27% (27%)
• Emerging Market Equities 3% (0%)
• Asian Equities 6% (6%)
• European Equities 8% (5%)
• Japanese Equities 1% (5%)
• UK Equities 11% (12%)
• Cash 0% (0%)
• China Equities 6% (6%)
• Property Equities 0% (0%)
• Other International Equities 5% (6%)
• Commodities and Energy 0% (0%)

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 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 BOTB has outperformed the average managed fund and the market.

 

 

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