Commentary
Of the 30 funds in June's BOTB, 17 funds have retained their place in July's selection, which is the highest number for some time. The chart below shows the average performance of the BOTB during June (the red 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 green line). You can see that the BOTB marginally underperformed its benchmark, while it outperformed the average cautious managed fund (grey line) and the average managed fund with up to 85% equity exposure (purple line).
The top performing funds in June BOTB are shown below and are those that typically have exposure to large cap US companies as well as Japanese equities.
| Fund | June 2023 % return |
| MI Metropolis Value | 2.96 |
| Man GLG Japan Core | 2.94 |
| T. Rowe Price US Large Cap Growth Equity | 2.34 |
| Troy Asset Management Ltd Trojan Global Equity | 2.23 |
| Royal London Global Sustainable Equity | 2.07 |
At the other end of the scale, European equity funds had a subdued June along with bond funds and other low-risk alternatives.
| Fund | June 2023 % return |
| Invesco Global Targeted Returns (UK) | -0.56 |
| CT European Select | -0.57 |
| AXA Global Short Duration Bonds | -0.66 |
| Thesis TM Tellworth UK Select | -0.95 |
| Royal London Sustainable Leaders Trust | -1.17 |
With US tech stocks performing strongly of late it means US equities continue to be the dominant asset in the BOTB selection. In fact US equity exposure has increased to 26% at the expense of UK equities and European equities. UK equities now only account for 6% of assets which is a significant shift down. The lacklustre performance of UK equities has been a result of the market's increasing concern about recession in the UK. Japanese equity exposure has increased once again which reflects the increased momentum we've seen in recent months. The selection's overall equity exposure is 65%, so largely unchanged. Elsewhere, the portfolio's bond exposure remains almost the same. At the end of this article, you can find information on how the 80-20 Investor selection continues to outperform professional fund managers and the market since its launch almost nine years ago
Below I list this month's selection in full with the 17 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.
July'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 |
| abrdn High Yield Bond Platform | Sterling High Yield | GB00B79RR984 | Lower risk |
| AXA Framlington American Growth | North America | GB00B5LXGG05 | Medium risk |
| AXA Framlington Global Technology | Technology & Technology Innovation | GB00B4W52V57 | Higher risk |
| AXA Global Short Duration Bonds | Sterling Strategic Bond | GB00BDFZQV30 | Lower risk |
| AXA US Short Duration High Yield Bond | Global Bonds | GB00B59VLT43 | Lower risk |
| Baillie Gifford Emerging Markets Bond | Global EM Bonds - Local Currency | GB00B39RMP13 | Lower risk |
| BNY Mellon Global Dynamic Bond | Targeted Absolute Return | GB00B8K10865 | Lower risk |
| CT European Select | Europe Excluding UK | GB0001529345 | Higher risk |
| EdenTree Responsible and Sustainable Global Equity | Global | GB0008449075 | Medium risk |
| Fidelity American | North America | GB00B8GPC429 | Medium risk |
| Fidelity Index Japan | Japan | GB00BHZK8872 | Medium risk |
| FP Carmignac Global Equity Compounders | Global | GB00BMGLBK75 | Medium risk |
| FTF Franklin US Opportunities | North America | GB00B7KCG406 | Higher risk |
| IFSL Marlborough High Yield Fixed Interest | Sterling High Yield | GB00B03TN153 | Lower risk |
| Invesco Emerging Markets ex China | Global Emerging Markets | GB00B3RW8X82 | Higher risk |
| Invesco Global Targeted Returns | Targeted Absolute Return | GB00B8CHD050 | Lower risk |
| Jupiter European | Europe Excluding UK | GB0006664683 | Higher risk |
| Liontrust Global Alpha | Flexible Investment | GB0031190555 | Medium risk |
| Liontrust Global Technology | Technology & Technology Innovation | GB00BYXZ5N79 | Higher risk |
| Man GLG Japan Core Alpha | Japan | GB00B3F46Y30 | Higher risk |
| Ninety One Global Total Return Credit | Sterling Strategic Bond | GB00BFM79K62 | Lower risk |
| Ninety One UK Special Situations | UK All Companies | GB00B1XFJS91 | Higher risk |
| Royal London Global Equity Select | Global | GB00BF93W972 | Medium risk |
| Royal London Global Sustainable Equity | Global | GB00BL6V0581 | Medium risk |
| Schroder High Yield Opportunities | Sterling High Yield | GB00B83RDY83 | Lower risk |
| Schroder Strategic Credit | Sterling Strategic Bond | GB00BJZ2ZC09 | Lower risk |
| T. Rowe Price US Large Cap Growth Equity | North America | GB00BD5FHW12 | Higher risk |
| TB Evenlode Global Income | Global Equity Income | GB00BF1QMV61 | Medium risk |
| Troy Asset Management Ltd Trojan Global Equity | Global | GB00B0ZJ5S47 | Medium risk |
| Vanguard FTSE Developed Europe ex-UK Equity Index | Europe Excluding UK | GB00B5B71H80 | Higher risk |
July's Best of the Best Selection - (grouped by risk)
Here is July'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 |
| abrdn High Yield Bond Platform | Sterling High Yield | GB00B79RR984 | Lower risk |
| AXA Global Short Duration Bonds | Sterling Strategic Bond | GB00BDFZQV30 | Lower risk |
| AXA US Short Duration High Yield Bond | Global Bonds | GB00B59VLT43 | Lower risk |
| Baillie Gifford Emerging Markets Bond | Global EM Bonds - Local Currency | GB00B39RMP13 | Lower risk |
| BNY Mellon Global Dynamic Bond | Targeted Absolute Return | GB00B8K10865 | Lower risk |
| IFSL Marlborough High Yield Fixed Interest | Sterling High Yield | GB00B03TN153 | Lower risk |
| Invesco Global Targeted Returns | Targeted Absolute Return | GB00B8CHD050 | Lower risk |
| Ninety One Global Total Return Credit | Sterling Strategic Bond | GB00BFM79K62 | Lower risk |
| Schroder High Yield Opportunities | Sterling High Yield | GB00B83RDY83 | Lower risk |
| Schroder Strategic Credit | Sterling Strategic Bond | GB00BJZ2ZC09 | Lower risk |
| AXA Framlington American Growth | North America | GB00B5LXGG05 | Medium risk |
| EdenTree Responsible and Sustainable Global Equity | Global | GB0008449075 | Medium risk |
| Fidelity American | North America | GB00B8GPC429 | Medium risk |
| Fidelity Index Japan | Japan | GB00BHZK8872 | Medium risk |
| FP Carmignac Global Equity Compounders | Global | GB00BMGLBK75 | Medium risk |
| Liontrust Global Alpha | Flexible Investment | GB0031190555 | Medium risk |
| Royal London Global Equity Select | Global | GB00BF93W972 | Medium risk |
| Royal London Global Sustainable Equity | Global | GB00BL6V0581 | Medium risk |
| TB Evenlode Global Income | Global Equity Income | GB00BF1QMV61 | Medium risk |
| Troy Asset Management Ltd Trojan Global Equity | Global | GB00B0ZJ5S47 | Medium risk |
| AXA Framlington Global Technology | Technology & Technology Innovation | GB00B4W52V57 | Higher risk |
| CT European Select | Europe Excluding UK | GB0001529345 | Higher risk |
| FTF Franklin US Opportunities | North America | GB00B7KCG406 | Higher risk |
| Invesco Emerging Markets ex China | Global Emerging Markets | GB00B3RW8X82 | Higher risk |
| Jupiter European | Europe Excluding UK | GB0006664683 | Higher risk |
| Liontrust Global Technology | Technology & Technology Innovation | GB00BYXZ5N79 | Higher risk |
| Man GLG Japan Core Alpha | Japan | GB00B3F46Y30 | Higher risk |
| Ninety One UK Special Situations | UK All Companies | GB00B1XFJS91 | Higher risk |
| T. Rowe Price US Large Cap Growth Equity | North America | GB00BD5FHW12 | Higher risk |
| Vanguard FTSE Developed Europe ex-UK Equity Index | Europe Excluding UK | GB00B5B71H80 | 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 |
| Artemis Strategic Assets | Flexible Investment | GB00B3VDD431 | Medium risk |
| Aviva Inv Global Equity Income | Global Equity Income | GB0030441918 | Medium risk |
| BNY Mellon Multi-Asset Balanced | Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares | GB00B8K9JZ06 | Medium risk |
| Close Sustainable Select Fixed Income | Sterling Strategic Bond | GB00BD6DSC14 | Lower risk |
| CT UK | UK All Companies | GB0001529782 | Higher risk |
| Fidelity European | Europe Excluding UK | GB00BFRT3504 | Medium risk |
| Fundsmith Equity | Global | GB00B4Q5X527 | Medium risk |
| Invesco Global Focus (UK) | Global | GB00B3KJYG12 | Higher risk |
| M&G Short Dated Corporate Bond | Sterling Corporate Bond | GB0031110397 | Lower risk |
| MI Metropolis Value | Global | GB00B3LDLX86 | Higher risk |
| Royal London Sustainable Leaders Trust | UK All Companies | GB00B7V23Z99 | Higher risk |
| Schroder MM Diversity | Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares | GB00B60CZD52 | Lower risk |
| Thesis TM Tellworth UK Select | Targeted Absolute Return | GB00BNY7YM73 | Lower 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 22% (21%)
- UK Fixed Interest 4% (3%)
- Alternatives 5% (3%) - includes absolute return strategies
- North American Equities 26% (21%)
- Emerging Market Equities 3% (0%)
- European Equities 13% (16%)
- Japanese Equities 7% (4%)
- UK Equities 6% (18%)
- Cash 4% (7%)
- China Equities 0% (0%)
- Asian Equities 0% (0%)
- Other international equities 10% (7%)
- 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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