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

Commentary

Of the 30 funds in February's BOTB selection 15 funds have retained their place this month. The BOTB performed in line with its benchmarks until the last day of the month when it took a hit following the slump in US tech stocks into the month-end.

Digging deeper into the performance of the funds within the BOTB during February, the table below highlights the top performers. The standout performers were Chinese equity funds, which rode the investor enthusiasm for Chinese AI stocks. Meanwhile other global equity funds struggled (due to their high equity exposure) allowing UK equity funds to rise to the top of the performance chart. The presence of a number of high yield bond funds shows the turnaround in fortunes of equities versus bonds.

Fund	February 2025 % return
Baillie Gifford China	9.03
Jupiter China	8.35
Artemis UK Select	2.86
Man High Yield Opportunities	1.64
Schroder High Yield Opportunities	1.59
Baillie Gifford High Yield Bond	1.45

At the other end of the scale you can see that there were some significant falls for those funds with exposure to US tech stocks. T. Rowe Price US Large Cap Growth is in my own 50k portfolio and retained its place in the BOTB (for now) based upon its longer-term performance. Its losses only occurred during the last 9 trading days of February, which is too short a time period to judge whether a new trend has been established.

Fund	February 2025 % return
Fidelity American	-6.08
T. Rowe Price US Large Cap Growth	-6.14
AXA Framlington American Growth	-6.8
UBS US Growth	-7.33
AXA Framlington Global Technology	-7.95

In terms of March's asset mix, it is not much different to the asset mix from February. The only minor difference is a small increase in UK equity exposure while the preference for equity income funds (rather than just growth oriented funds) remains.

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.

March'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 SmartGARP European Equity	Europe Excluding UK	GB00B2PLJD73	Medium risk
Artemis UK Select	UK All Companies	GB00B2PLJG05	Medium risk
Baillie Gifford China	China/Greater China	GB00B39RML74	Higher risk
Baillie Gifford High Yield Bond	Sterling High Yield	GB0030816606	Lower risk
Barclays Global Markets Adventurous	Flexible Investment	GB00B4YPY060	Medium risk
Barings German Growth Trust	Specialist	GB0000822576	Higher risk
BNY Mellon Global High Yield Bond	Sterling High Yield	GB00B7KWF216	Lower risk
BNY Mellon US Equity Income	North America	GB00BGV53H32	Higher risk
CT Emerging Market Bond	Global EM Bonds - Hard Currency	GB0002365608	Lower risk
CT High Yield Bond	Sterling High Yield	GB0008371014	Lower risk
Fidelity American	North America	GB00B8GPC429	Higher risk
Fidelity Sustainable Global Equity Income	Global Equity Income	GB00BPGC5764	Medium risk
Invesco Global Equity Income (UK)	Global Equity Income	GB00B3FD1Z66	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	Higher risk
M&G Global Dividend	Global Equity Income	GB00B46J9127	Medium 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 Asia Pacific Franchise	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B1XFJD49	Higher risk
Schroder High Yield Opportunities	Sterling High Yield	GB00B83RDY83	Lower risk
Schroder Income	UK Equity Income	GB00B3PM1190	Medium 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
Troy Asset Management Ltd Trojan Global Income	Global Equity Income	GB00BD82KP33	Medium risk
UBS Global Emerging Markets Equity	Global Emerging Markets	GB00B7L34154	Higher risk
Vanguard FTSE Developed World ex-UK Equity Index	Global	GB00B59G4Q73	Medium risk
Vanguard US Equity Index	North America	GB00B5B71Q71	Higher risk

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

Here is March'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 High Income	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B2PLJN71	Lower risk
Baillie Gifford High Yield Bond	Sterling High Yield	GB0030816606	Lower risk
BNY Mellon Global High Yield Bond	Sterling High Yield	GB00B7KWF216	Lower risk
CT Emerging Market Bond	Global EM Bonds - Hard Currency	GB0002365608	Lower risk
CT High Yield Bond	Sterling High Yield	GB0008371014	Lower risk
Invesco High Yield (UK)	Sterling High Yield	GB00B3RW7649	Lower risk
Man High Yield Opportunities Fund	Sterling High Yield	GB00BJK3W057	Lower risk
Man Sterling Corporate Bond Fund	Sterling Corporate Bond	GB00BNLYQX62	Lower risk
Schroder High Yield Opportunities	Sterling High Yield	GB00B83RDY83	Lower risk
Thesis TM Tellworth UK Select	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00BNY7YM73	Lower risk
Artemis Global Income	Global Equity Income	GB00B5N99561	Medium risk
Artemis SmartGARP European Equity	Europe Excluding UK	GB00B2PLJD73	Medium risk
Artemis UK Select	UK All Companies	GB00B2PLJG05	Medium risk
Barclays Global Markets Adventurous	Flexible Investment	GB00B4YPY060	Medium risk
Fidelity Sustainable Global Equity Income	Global Equity Income	GB00BPGC5764	Medium risk
Invesco Global Equity Income (UK)	Global Equity Income	GB00B3FD1Z66	Medium risk
M&G Global Dividend	Global Equity Income	GB00B46J9127	Medium risk
Schroder Income	UK Equity Income	GB00B3PM1190	Medium risk
Troy Asset Management Ltd Trojan Global Income	Global Equity Income	GB00BD82KP33	Medium risk
Vanguard FTSE Developed World ex-UK Equity Index	Global	GB00B59G4Q73	Medium risk
Baillie Gifford China	China/Greater China	GB00B39RML74	Higher risk
Barings German Growth Trust	Specialist	GB0000822576	Higher risk
BNY Mellon US Equity Income	North America	GB00BGV53H32	Higher risk
Fidelity American	North America	GB00B8GPC429	Higher risk
Jupiter China	China/Greater China	GB00B1DTDX49	Higher risk
Jupiter Merian Global Equity	Global	GB00B1XG8F22	Higher risk
Ninety One Asia Pacific Franchise	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B1XFJD49	Higher risk
T. Rowe Price US Large Cap Growth Equity	North America	GB00BD5FHW12	Higher risk
UBS Global Emerging Markets Equity	Global Emerging Markets	GB00B7L34154	Higher risk
Vanguard US Equity Index	North America	GB00B5B71Q71	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
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
BNY Mellon Global Opportunities	Global	GB00B83R9Z17	Medium risk
BNY Mellon Real Return	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00B8GG4B61	Lower 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 Ex UK Enhanced Index (UK)	Global	GB00BZ8GWQ44	Medium risk
L&G Strategic Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B1TWMW95	Lower 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
Schroder Managed Wealth Portfolio	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B84YNB54	Lower risk
UBS US Growth	North America	GB00B7VHZX64	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% (18%)
• UK Fixed Interest 4% (5%)
• Alternatives 7% (10%) - includes absolute return strategies
• North American Equities 26% (27%)
• Emerging Market Equities 3% (3%)
• Asian Equities 4% (6%)
• European Equities 8% (8%)
• Japanese Equities 1% (1%)
• UK Equities 13% (11%)
• Cash 2% (0%)
• China Equities 6% (6%)
• Property Equities 0% (0%)
• Other International Equities 4% (5%)
• 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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