80-20 Investor Best of the Best Selection – June 2026 Update

Commentary

May saw equity markets continue their rebound from the lows in March, following the outbreak of the war in the Middle East. It meant that the BOTB selection enjoyed a strong month, although, unusually, the benchmark which tracks the impact of the BOTB's underlying asset mix, rather than the performance of individual funds, significantly outperformed the BOTB and the benchmark tracking the performance of professional fund managers.

It suggests that some of the fund choices in May's BOTB dampened the performance boost provided by the selection's asset mix. This is most likely due to style or geographical biases within some of May's funds. For example, if you look at the performance tables below BNY Mellon Asian Income enjoyed a very strong month, rising over 7.62%. Nonetheless, Fidelity Asia, which is also a member of the 'Asia Pacific Excluding Japan' sector, rallied by almost 20% during May. The reason that the Fidelity fund outperformed by such a margin is that it has over 30% of its assets invested in Asian chipmakers, a larger exposure than BNY Mellon Asian Income, that benefited from AI euphoria.

In any event, given the overall strong performance from the BOTB in May 17 funds have retained their place in June's BOTB.

The table below lists the top-performing funds during May and the common theme is that they all have exposure to Asia and emerging markets, and in particular, the aforementioned chipmakers. It's good to see that BNY Mellon Asian Income and Artemis Global Income are once again among the top performers given their inclusion in my £50k portfolio.

Fund	May 2026 % return
Fidelity Asia	19.95
Fidelity Emerging Markets	11.8
Artemis SmartGARP Global Equity	7.77
BNY Mellon Asian Income	7.62
Artemis Global Income	7.26

At the other end of the scale, funds with exposure to energy struggled as hopes of a peace deal in the Middle East eventually led to the price of oil falling back below $100 a barrel.

Fund	May 2026 % return
Royal London Short Duration Global Index Linked	0.39
abrdn Global Infrastructure Equity	0.21
BlackRock Natural Resources	0.02
Vanguard FTSE UK Equity Income	-0.01
WS Guinness Global Energy	-3.92

In terms of asset mix, May's BOTB has shifted, with a further reduction in UK equities (a recent laggard), mainly in favour of European equities. It means that US equities remain the largest equity component of the BOTB, with UK equities now among the smallest. The full asset breakdown can be found at the foot of this article.

Below I list this month's selection in full, with the 17 funds that retained 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.

June'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	Sterling High Yield	GB0000938844	Lower risk
Allianz Total Return Asian Equity	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B1FRQV53	Higher risk
Artemis Global Income	Global Equity Income	GB00B5N99561	Medium risk
Artemis SmartGARP European Equity	Europe Excluding UK	GB00B2PLJD73	Medium risk
Artemis SmartGARP Global Equity	Global	GB00B2PLJP95	Higher risk
Artemis US Select	North America	GB00BMMV5105	Higher risk
BNY Mellon Inflation Linked Corporate Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B8HY5051	Lower risk
BNY Mellon Real Return	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00B8GG4B61	Lower risk
CT Global Emerging Market Equity	Global Emerging Markets	GB00B10SJD63	Higher risk
Fidelity Asia	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B6Y7NF43	Higher risk
Fidelity Emerging Markets	Global Emerging Markets	GB00B9SMK778	Higher risk
Invesco European Focus (UK)	Europe Excluding UK	GB00B28J0Q84	Medium risk
Invesco High Yield (UK)	Sterling High Yield	GB00B3RW7649	Lower risk
iShares Pacific ex Japan Equity Index	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B849FB47	Higher risk
L&G Strategic Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B1TWMW95	Lower risk
Liontrust Russia	Specialist	GB00B86WB793	Higher risk
M&G Global Strategic Value	Global	GB00B6173L33	Medium risk
Man High Yield Opportunities Fund	Sterling High Yield	GB00BJK3W057	Lower risk
Premier Miton Cautious Multi Asset	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B0W1V856	Lower risk
Premier Miton Defensive Multi Asset	Mixed Investment 0-35% Shares	GB00B0525B66	Lower risk
Premier Miton Multi-Asset Growth & Income	Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares	GB00B78H4K93	Medium risk
Premier Miton UK Multi Cap Income	UK Equity Income	GB00B41NHD71	Medium risk
Royal London Short Duration Credit	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00BJ4KW800	Lower risk
Schroder European Recovery	Europe Excluding UK	GB0007221889	Medium risk
Schroder Global Equity Income	Global Equity Income	GB00B76V7M69	Medium risk
Schroder Tokyo	Japan	GB00B4SZR818	Higher risk
T. Rowe Price Global Technology Equity	Technology & Technology Innovation	GB00BD446K01	Higher risk
T. Rowe Price US Large Cap Value Equity	North America	GB00BD446M25	Medium risk
TwentyFour Monument Bond	Specialist	GB00B3V5V897	Lower risk
UBS Global Enhanced Equity Income	Global Equity Income	GB00BL0RSN63	Medium risk

 

June'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
abrdn High Yield Bond	Sterling High Yield	GB0000938844	Lower risk
BNY Mellon Inflation Linked Corporate Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B8HY5051	Lower risk
BNY Mellon Real Return	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00B8GG4B61	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
Premier Miton Cautious Multi Asset	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B0W1V856	Lower risk
Premier Miton Defensive Multi Asset	Mixed Investment 0-35% Shares	GB00B0525B66	Lower risk
Royal London Short Duration Credit	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00BJ4KW800	Lower risk
TwentyFour Monument Bond	Specialist	GB00B3V5V897	Lower risk
Artemis Global Income	Global Equity Income	GB00B5N99561	Medium risk
Artemis SmartGARP European Equity	Europe Excluding UK	GB00B2PLJD73	Medium risk
Invesco European Focus (UK)	Europe Excluding UK	GB00B28J0Q84	Medium risk
M&G Global Strategic Value	Global	GB00B6173L33	Medium risk
Premier Miton Multi-Asset Growth & Income	Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares	GB00B78H4K93	Medium risk
Premier Miton UK Multi Cap Income	UK Equity Income	GB00B41NHD71	Medium risk
Schroder European Recovery	Europe Excluding UK	GB0007221889	Medium risk
Schroder Global Equity Income	Global Equity Income	GB00B76V7M69	Medium risk
T. Rowe Price US Large Cap Value Equity	North America	GB00BD446M25	Medium risk
UBS Global Enhanced Equity Income	Global Equity Income	GB00BL0RSN63	Medium risk
Allianz Total Return Asian Equity	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B1FRQV53	Higher risk
Artemis SmartGARP Global Equity	Global	GB00B2PLJP95	Higher risk
Artemis US Select	North America	GB00BMMV5105	Higher risk
CT Global Emerging Market Equity	Global Emerging Markets	GB00B10SJD63	Higher risk
Fidelity Asia	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B6Y7NF43	Higher risk
Fidelity Emerging Markets	Global Emerging Markets	GB00B9SMK778	Higher risk
iShares Pacific ex Japan Equity Index	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B849FB47	Higher risk
Liontrust Russia	Specialist	GB00B86WB793	Higher risk
Schroder Tokyo	Japan	GB00B4SZR818	Higher risk
T. Rowe Price Global Technology Equity	Technology & Technology Innovation	GB00BD446K01	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 Global Infrastructure Equity	Infrastructure	GB00B6Z39T70	Medium risk
BlackRock Natural Resources	Commodity/Natural Resources	GB00B6865B79	Higher risk
BNY Mellon Asian Income	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B8KT3V48	Higher risk
BNY Mellon Emerging Income	Global Emerging Markets	GB00B8GGF462	Higher risk
M&G Global Dividend	Global Equity Income	GB00B46J9127	Medium risk
Royal London Short Duration Global Index Linked	Global Bonds	GB00BD050F05	Lower risk
Schroder Global Recovery	Global	GB00BYRJXL91	Medium risk
Schroder MM Diversity	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B60CZD52	Lower risk
Schroder US Mid Cap	North America	GB00B7LDLV43	Higher risk
Vanguard FTSE UK Equity Income Index	UK Equity Income	GB00B59G4H82	Medium risk
WS Guinness Global Energy	Commodity/Natural Resources	GB00B56FW078	Higher risk
WS Havelock Global Select	Global	GB00BFM7DN78	Medium 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 22% (21%)
• UK Fixed Interest 0% (0%)
• Alternatives 13% (10%) - includes absolute return strategies
• North American Equities 17% (16%)
• Emerging Market Equities 7% (6%)
• Asian Equities 7% (7%)
• European Equities 14% (11%)
• Japanese Equities 5% (5%)
• UK Equities 6% (10%)
• Cash 4% (2%)
• China Equities 0% (0%)
• Property Equities 0% (0%)
• Other International Equities 5% (5%)
• Gilts 0% (0%)
• Commodities and Energy 0% (7%)

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 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 (orange 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.