80-20 Investor Best of the Best Selection – July 2024 Update

Commentary

Of the 30 funds in June's BOTB selection 21 funds have retained their place after a strong performance for the BOTB with an average return of over 2% during June. This outperformed the average professionally managed multi-asset fund but, interestingly, the BOTB underperformed its benchmark by a sizeable margin which is very unusual. It suggests that while the asset mix boosted the BOTB's performance, the actual fund selection could have been better. When looking at the performance of individual funds, it's clear that the bond element of the BOTB portfolio didn't benefit from the rally in long dated bonds. Similarly the European equity exposure was hampered by the fund choices.

Obviously, the chart above only looks at the average across all of the funds within the BOTB. The top-performing funds in June's BOTB are highlighted in the table below and were mostly those funds with the highest US equity exposure. The standout performer was L&G Global Technology Index (up 11.26%). It's good to see that T. Rowe Price US Large Cap Growth Equity, Liontrust India and Artemis US Select, which are both in my own £50k portfolio, among the top performers.

Fund	June 2024 % return
L&G Global Technology Index	11.26
T. Rowe Price US Large Cap Growth Equity	8.75
FTF Franklin US Opportunities	8.19
T. Rowe Price Global Technology Equity	8
Liontrust India	7.39
L&G Global 100 Index Trust	6.87
Artemis US Select	5.33

At the other end of the scale, European and UK equity funds were among the biggest losers. These were the biggest drags on the BOTB and are largely the reason the BOTB, as a whole, underperformed its benchmark in the earlier chart. Unfortunately two of the funds are in my £50k portfolio. However, the losses were offset by the strong performances of those funds, such as Liontrust India, mentioned above.

Fund	June 2024 % return
L&G UK Equity Income	-1.21
Janus Henderson European Mid and Large Cap	-2.22
WS Saracen Global Income and Growth	-2.87
Schroder UK Mid 250	-2.89
Artemis SmartGARP European Equity	-2.96

In terms of July's asset mix the biggest change is the reduction in the exposure to UK and European equities in favour of greater emerging market and US equity exposure. The BOTB's full asset mix is shown later in this article. Overall the total equity exposure increased to 66%, the highest level for some time.

Below I list this month's selection in full with the 21 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 Global Focused Equity	Global	GB00B6915J97	Medium risk
Artemis Global Income	Global Equity Income	GB00B5N99561	Medium risk
Artemis Monthly Distribution	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B6TK3R06	Lower risk
Artemis SmartGARP European Equity	Europe Excluding UK	GB00B2PLJD73	Medium risk
Artemis SmartGARP Global Emerging Markets Equity	Global Emerging Markets	GB00BW9HL132	Medium risk
Artemis SmartGARP Global Equity	Global	GB00B2PLJP95	Medium risk
Artemis US Select	North America	GB00BMMV5105	Medium risk
Aviva Inv Global Equity Income	Global Equity Income	GB0030441918	Medium risk
AXA Managed Income	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B7H1PG56	Lower risk
FTF Franklin US Opportunities	North America	GB00B7KCG406	Higher risk
Invesco High Yield (UK)	Sterling High Yield	GB00B3RW7649	Lower risk
Jupiter India	India/Indian Subcontinent	GB00B2NHJ040	Higher risk
L&G Asia Pacific Equity Income	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B409KQ03	Higher risk
L&G Global 100 Index Trust	Global	GB00B0CNH056	Medium risk
L&G Global Technology Index Trust	Technology & Technology Innovation	GB00B0CNH163	Higher risk
L&G Strategic Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B1TWMW95	Lower risk
Liontrust India	India/Indian Subcontinent	GB00B1L6DV51	Higher risk
Man GLG Absolute Value	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00BF1X8084	Lower risk
Man GLG High Yield Opportunities	Sterling High Yield	GB00BJK3W057	Lower risk
Man GLG Sterling Corporate Bond	Sterling Corporate Bond	GB00BNLYQX62	Lower risk
Ninety One UK Special Situations	UK All Companies	GB00B1XFJS91	Higher risk
Schroder High Yield Opportunities	Sterling High Yield	GB00B83RDY83	Lower risk
Schroder Strategic Credit	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00BJZ2ZC09	Lower risk
Schroder UK Smaller Companies	UK Smaller Companies	GB00B76V7Z98	Higher risk
T. Rowe Price Global Focused Growth Equity	Global	GB00BD446774	Higher risk
T. Rowe Price Global Technology Equity	Technology & Technology Innovation	GB00BD446K01	Higher risk
T. Rowe Price US Large Cap Growth Equity	North America	GB00BD5FHW12	Medium risk
Thesis TM Tellworth UK Select	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00BNY7YM73	Lower risk
UBS US Growth	North America	GB00B7VHZX64	Higher risk
WS Morant Wright Nippon Yield	Japan	GB00B42MKS95	Medium 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
Artemis Monthly Distribution	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B6TK3R06	Lower risk
AXA Managed Income	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B7H1PG56	Lower risk
Invesco High Yield (UK)	Sterling High Yield	GB00B3RW7649	Lower risk
L&G Strategic Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B1TWMW95	Lower risk
Man GLG Absolute Value	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00BF1X8084	Lower risk
Man GLG High Yield Opportunities	Sterling High Yield	GB00BJK3W057	Lower risk
Man GLG Sterling Corporate Bond	Sterling Corporate Bond	GB00BNLYQX62	Lower risk
Schroder High Yield Opportunities	Sterling High Yield	GB00B83RDY83	Lower risk
Schroder Strategic Credit	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00BJZ2ZC09	Lower risk
Thesis TM Tellworth UK Select	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00BNY7YM73	Lower risk
abrdn Global Focused Equity	Global	GB00B6915J97	Medium risk
Artemis Global Income	Global Equity Income	GB00B5N99561	Medium risk
Artemis SmartGARP European Equity	Europe Excluding UK	GB00B2PLJD73	Medium risk
Artemis SmartGARP Global Emerging Markets Equity	Global Emerging Markets	GB00BW9HL132	Medium risk
Artemis SmartGARP Global Equity	Global	GB00B2PLJP95	Medium risk
Artemis US Select	North America	GB00BMMV5105	Medium risk
Aviva Inv Global Equity Income	Global Equity Income	GB0030441918	Medium risk
L&G Global 100 Index Trust	Global	GB00B0CNH056	Medium risk
T. Rowe Price US Large Cap Growth Equity	North America	GB00BD5FHW12	Medium risk
WS Morant Wright Nippon Yield	Japan	GB00B42MKS95	Medium risk
FTF Franklin US Opportunities	North America	GB00B7KCG406	Higher risk
Jupiter India	India/Indian Subcontinent	GB00B2NHJ040	Higher risk
L&G Asia Pacific Equity Income	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B409KQ03	Higher risk
L&G Global Technology Index Trust	Technology & Technology Innovation	GB00B0CNH163	Higher risk
Liontrust India	India/Indian Subcontinent	GB00B1L6DV51	Higher risk
Ninety One UK Special Situations	UK All Companies	GB00B1XFJS91	Higher risk
Schroder UK Smaller Companies	UK Smaller Companies	GB00B76V7Z98	Higher risk
T. Rowe Price Global Focused Growth Equity	Global	GB00BD446774	Higher risk
T. Rowe Price Global Technology Equity	Technology & Technology Innovation	GB00BD446K01	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	GB00B79RR984	Lower risk
Aviva Inv Multi Strategy Target Return	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00BMTRW090	Lower risk
CT High Yield Bond	Sterling High Yield	GB0008371014	Lower risk
Janus Henderson European Mid and Large Cap	Europe Excluding UK	GB00BJ0LFG67	Higher risk
Janus Henderson US Sustainable Equity	North America	GB00BPH3DD08	Higher risk
L&G UK Equity Income	UK Equity Income	GB00B6HBD759	Higher risk
Schroder UK Mid 250	UK All Companies	GB00B76V7S22	Higher risk
Unicorn UK Smaller Companies	UK Smaller Companies	GB0031791238	Medium risk
WS Saracen Global Income and Growth	Global Equity Income	GB00B5B35X02	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 19% (20%)
• UK Fixed Interest 5% (4%)
• Alternatives 10% (11%) - includes absolute return strategies
• North American Equities 29% (25%)
• American Emerging Market Equities 0% (0%)
• Asian Emerging Market Equities 12% (6%)
• European Equities 8% (11%)
• Japanese Equities 5% (4%)
• UK Equities 12% (17%)
• Cash 0% (2%)
• China Equities 0% (0%)
• Property Equities 0% (0%)
• Other International Equities 0% (0%)
• 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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