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

Commentary

Last month the BOTB once again performed well and in line with its benchmarks, with only 4 funds within the selection not producing a positive return. The BOTB rose 1.61% during June following its rise of 3.71% in May. Twenty-two of the funds in last month's BOTB have retained their position in July's BOTB. The BOTB has also reached an important milestone as it has now doubled in value since its launch in August 2014. You can see the long-term performance chart at the bottom of the article.

Digging deeper into the performance of the funds within the BOTB during June, the table below highlights the top performers. Once again Ninety One Global Special Situations, Ninety One UK Special Situations and Artemis Global Income make the shortlist - with the latter two both being members of my own £50k portfolio. There were also some strong performances for funds with exposure to Asian and Chinese equities.

Fund	June 2025 % return
Ninety One Global Special Situations	5.11
Man Asia (ex Japan) Equity Fund	4.27
Ninety One UK Special Situations	3.85
Artemis Global Income	3.53
Jupiter China	3.03

At the other end of the scale you can see only four funds from last month's BOTB list lost money, which includes the only two Japanese equity funds from the selection.

Fund	June 2025 % return
L&G European Equity Income	0.27
Fidelity Japan	-0.08
Premier Miton Tellworth UK Select	-0.4
Troy Asset Management Ltd Trojan Ethical	-0.49
WS Morant Wright Nippon Yield	-1.22

In terms of July's asset mix, it remains almost identical to the asset mix of June's BOTB, with the only main difference being the introduction of cash and some commodities exposure in place of reduced exposure to alternative assets and Japanese equities. UK equities remain the largest component of the equity portion of the BOTB closely followed by European equities. The full asset breakdown can be found at the foot of this article.

Below I list this month's selection in full with the 22 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
Artemis Global Income	Global Equity Income	GB00B5N99561	Medium risk
Artemis High Income	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B2PLJN71	Lower risk
Artemis Monthly Distribution	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B6TK3R06	Lower risk
Artemis SmartGARP European Equity	Europe Excluding UK	GB00B2PLJD73	Medium risk
Artemis SmartGARP UK Equity	UK All Companies	GB00B2PLJM64	Medium risk
Aviva Inv Multi Strategy Target Return	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00BMTRW090	Lower risk
Barings German Growth Trust	Specialist	GB0000822576	Higher risk
BlackRock Gold & General	Specialist	GB00B5ZNJ896	Higher risk
BNY Mellon Global Infrastructure Income	Infrastructure	GB00BDR8GH68	Medium risk
BNY Mellon Multi-Asset Diversified Return	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00B81C8395	Lower risk
BNY Mellon UK Income	UK Equity Income	GB00B7M90R07	Medium risk
CT Latin America	Latin America	GB0001531754	Higher risk
Fidelity Japan	Japan	GB00B882N041	Higher risk
Invesco European Equity (UK)	Europe Excluding UK	GB00B1W7HP93	Higher risk
Jupiter China	China/Greater China	GB00B1DTDX49	Higher risk
Jupiter UK Income	UK Equity Income	GB0004791389	Medium risk
L&G European Equity Income	Europe Excluding UK	GB00BF18C898	Medium risk
L&G UK Equity Income	UK Equity Income	GB00B6HBD759	Medium risk
Man Asia (ex Japan) Equity Fund	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00BMCMVT34	Higher risk
Man High Yield Opportunities Fund	Sterling High Yield	GB00BJK3W057	Lower risk
Man Sterling Corporate Bond Fund	Sterling Corporate Bond	GB00BNLYQX62	Lower risk
Ninety One Global Special Situations	Global	GB00B29KP103	Higher risk
Ninety One UK Special Situations	UK All Companies	GB00B1XFJS91	Medium risk
Premier Miton Multi-Asset Monthly Income	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B7GGPC79	Lower risk
Schroder European	Europe Excluding UK	GB00B76V8C37	Medium risk
Schroder High Yield Opportunities	Sterling High Yield	GB00B83RDY83	Lower risk
Schroder MM Diversity	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B60CZD52	Lower risk
Schroder Sustainable Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B57BFC79	Lower risk
Schroder UK Smaller Companies	UK Smaller Companies	GB00B76V7Z98	Higher risk
WS Ardtur Continental European	Europe Excluding UK	GB0031831570	Higher risk

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

(funds unchanged from last month are in black while new additions are in green):

Name	Sector	ISIN Code	Risk
Artemis High Income	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B2PLJN71	Lower risk
Artemis Monthly Distribution	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B6TK3R06	Lower risk
Aviva Inv Multi Strategy Target Return	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00BMTRW090	Lower risk
BNY Mellon Multi-Asset Diversified Return	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00B81C8395	Lower risk
Man High Yield Opportunities Fund	Sterling High Yield	GB00BJK3W057	Lower risk
Man Sterling Corporate Bond Fund	Sterling Corporate Bond	GB00BNLYQX62	Lower risk
Premier Miton Multi-Asset Monthly Income	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B7GGPC79	Lower risk
Schroder High Yield Opportunities	Sterling High Yield	GB00B83RDY83	Lower risk
Schroder MM Diversity	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B60CZD52	Lower risk
Schroder Sustainable Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B57BFC79	Lower risk
Artemis Global Income	Global Equity Income	GB00B5N99561	Medium risk
Artemis SmartGARP European Equity	Europe Excluding UK	GB00B2PLJD73	Medium risk
Artemis SmartGARP UK Equity	UK All Companies	GB00B2PLJM64	Medium risk
BNY Mellon Global Infrastructure Income	Infrastructure	GB00BDR8GH68	Medium risk
BNY Mellon UK Income	UK Equity Income	GB00B7M90R07	Medium risk
Jupiter UK Income	UK Equity Income	GB0004791389	Medium risk
L&G European Equity Income	Europe Excluding UK	GB00BF18C898	Medium risk
L&G UK Equity Income	UK Equity Income	GB00B6HBD759	Medium risk
Ninety One UK Special Situations	UK All Companies	GB00B1XFJS91	Medium risk
Schroder European	Europe Excluding UK	GB00B76V8C37	Medium risk
Barings German Growth Trust	Specialist	GB0000822576	Higher risk
BlackRock Gold & General	Specialist	GB00B5ZNJ896	Higher risk
CT Latin America	Latin America	GB0001531754	Higher risk
Fidelity Japan	Japan	GB00B882N041	Higher risk
Invesco European Equity (UK)	Europe Excluding UK	GB00B1W7HP93	Higher risk
Jupiter China	China/Greater China	GB00B1DTDX49	Higher risk
Man Asia (ex Japan) Equity Fund	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00BMCMVT34	Higher risk
Ninety One Global Special Situations	Global	GB00B29KP103	Higher risk
Schroder UK Smaller Companies	UK Smaller Companies	GB00B76V7Z98	Higher risk
WS Ardtur Continental European	Europe Excluding UK	GB0031831570	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
Invesco High Yield (UK)	Sterling High Yield	GB00B3RW7649	Lower risk
Man Income Fund	UK Equity Income	GB00B0117C28	Medium risk
Premier Miton Strategic Monthly Income Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00BMWVS110	Lower risk
Premier Miton Tellworth UK Select	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00BNY7YM73	Lower risk
Schroder Strategic Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B7FPS593	Lower risk
Troy Asset Management Ltd Trojan Ethical	Flexible Investment	GB00BKTW4R13	Medium risk
WS Havelock Global Select	Global	GB00BFM7DN78	Higher risk
WS Morant Wright Nippon Yield	Japan	GB00B42MKS95	Higher 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 15% (17%)
• UK Fixed Interest 4% (4%)
• Alternatives 7% (12%) - includes absolute return strategies
• North American Equities 6% (7%)
• Emerging Market Equities 4% (4%)
• Asian Equities 4% (4%)
• European Equities 17% (17%)
• Japanese Equities 4% (7%)
• UK Equities 22% (20%)
• Cash 4% (0%)
• China Equities 4% (4%)
• Property Equities 0% (0%)
• Other International Equities 6% (4%)
• Commodities and Energy 3% (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 and has doubled in value.

 

 

All performance figures are net of fund charges. The material in any email, the MoneytotheMasses.com website, associated pages / channels / accounts and any other correspondence are for general information only and do not constitute investment, tax, legal or other form of advice. You should not rely on this information to make (or refrain from making) any decisions. Always obtain independent, professional advice for your own particular situation. See full Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy and Disclaimer.

Neither MoneytotheMasses.com or 80-20 Investor nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Funds invest in shares, bonds, and other financial instruments and are by their nature speculative and can be volatile. You should never invest more than you can safely afford to lose. The value of your investment can go down as well as up so you may get back less than you originally invested. Tax rules can change and benefits depend on individual circumstances.
Information provided by MoneytotheMasses.com or 80-20 Investor is for general information only and not intended to be relied upon by readers in making (or not making) specific investment decisions.
Appropriate independent advice should be obtained before making any such decisions. Leadenhall Learning (owner of MoneytotheMasses.com or 80-20 Investor) and its staff do not accept liability for any loss suffered by readers as a result of any such decisions.
The tables and graphs are derived from data supplied by Trustnet. All Rights Reserved.