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

Commentary

In February, the BOTB selection continued where it left off in January, powering to new highs and outperforming its benchmarks. In January, the BOTB chalked up its best monthly performance since November 2020, but in February it surpassed that achievement. The fact that both the BOTB (the blue line) and its benchmark (the red line), which has the same asset mix as the BOTB but assumes the sector average performance for each asset class, outperformed the average professionally managed fund by such a margin, once again, demonstrates that the biggest driver of performance in February was the underlying asset mix. If you look at the latest 80-20 Investor heatmap, the biggest winners were Japanese equities, commodities and emerging market equities. With such a strong monthly performance, the long-term outperformance of the BOTB sits at an all-time high, as shown in the chart at the foot of this article.

Unsurprisingly 21 funds have retained their position in this month's BOTB. Digging deeper into the performance of individual funds, the table below shows how those with exposure to Asian and Japanese equities were the biggest winners, the latter thanks to increased political certainty in the country. It is quite incredible to see the top 5 funds all produced a return of over 8% in February. Artemis Global Income was one of the standout performers once again, along with Man Japan Core Alpha which rallied 13.68% during the month. I hold both funds in my own portfolio.

Fund	February 2026 % return
WS Morant Wright Nippon Yield	15.62
Man Japan Core Alpha	13.68
Fidelity Asia	8.84
Barings Eastern Trust	8.37
Artemis Global Income	8.16

At the other end of the scale were the lower-risk bond funds. As you can see, every fund in the BOTB made money during February.

Fund	February 2026 % return
Royal London Ethical Bond	1.23
Royal London Corporate Bond	1.10
Artemis High Income	0.88
abrdn Strategic Bond	0.66
Invesco High Yield (UK)	0.32

In terms of asset mix, March's BOTB has slightly reduced its US equity exposure again, this time in favour of energy stocks (classed under commodities). In the bond section of the portfolio, the global fixed interest exposure has been reduced slightly to allow for the rare appearance of a gilt fund.

UK Equities remain the largest single component of the equity portion of the BOTB; with geographical allocation still split fairly evenly across UK, US, Asia, Emerging Markets, European and Japanese equities. Although US equities are the geographical region with the smallest equity allocation. The full asset breakdown can be found at the foot of this article.

Below I list this month's selection in full, with the 21 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.

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 SmartGARP European Equity	Europe Excluding UK	GB00B2PLJD73	Medium risk
Artemis SmartGARP Global Equity	Global	GB00B2PLJP95	Higher risk
Artemis SmartGARP UK Equity	UK All Companies	GB00B2PLJM64	Medium risk
AXA Sterling Corporate Bond	Sterling Corporate Bond	GB00B1Z48Z43	Lower risk
Baillie Gifford Pacific	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB0006063126	Higher risk
Barings Eastern Trust	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B2PSLG53	Higher risk
BlackRock Natural Resources	Commodity/Natural Resources	GB00B6865B79	Higher risk
BNY Mellon Real Return	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00B8GG4B61	Lower risk
BNY Mellon UK Equity	UK All Companies	GB00B6X4W596	Medium risk
CT Latin America	Latin America	GB0001531754	Higher risk
Fidelity Asia	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B6Y7NF43	Higher risk
Fidelity Emerging Markets	Global Emerging Markets	GB00B9SMK778	Higher risk
Fidelity Multi Asset Open Defensive	Mixed Investment 0-35% Shares	GB00BC7GXK56	Lower risk
Invesco European Equity Income (UK)	Europe Excluding UK	GB00B28J0V38	Medium risk
Jupiter Merlin Conservative Select	Mixed Investment 0-35% Shares	GB00B8GDMB34	Lower risk
Jupiter Strategic Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B2RBCS16	Lower risk
M&G Global Strategic Value	Global	GB00B6173L33	Medium risk
Man Japan Core Alpha	Japan	GB00B0119B50	Medium risk
Man Sterling Corporate Bond Fund	Sterling Corporate Bond	GB00BNLYQX62	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
Royal London Corporate Bond	Sterling Corporate Bond	GB00B87FJ401	Lower risk
Royal London UK Government Bond	UK Gilts	GB00B881TW52	Lower risk
Schroder Global Emerging Markets	Global Emerging Markets	GB00B76V5Q67	Higher risk
Schroder MM Diversity	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B60CZD52	Lower risk
T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Discovery Equity	Global Emerging Markets	GB00BJL36Z72	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 Morant Wright Nippon Yield	Japan	GB00B42MKS95	Medium risk

March'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
AXA Sterling Corporate Bond	Sterling Corporate Bond	GB00B1Z48Z43	Lower risk
BNY Mellon Real Return	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00B8GG4B61	Lower risk
Fidelity Multi Asset Open Defensive	Mixed Investment 0-35% Shares	GB00BC7GXK56	Lower risk
Jupiter Merlin Conservative Select	Mixed Investment 0-35% Shares	GB00B8GDMB34	Lower risk
Jupiter Strategic Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B2RBCS16	Lower risk
Man Sterling Corporate Bond Fund	Sterling Corporate Bond	GB00BNLYQX62	Lower risk
Premier Miton Defensive Multi Asset	Mixed Investment 0-35% Shares	GB00B0525B66	Lower risk
Royal London Corporate Bond	Sterling Corporate Bond	GB00B87FJ401	Lower risk
Royal London UK Government Bond	UK Gilts	GB00B881TW52	Lower risk
Schroder MM Diversity	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B60CZD52	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 UK Equity	UK All Companies	GB00B6X4W596	Medium risk
Invesco European Equity Income (UK)	Europe Excluding UK	GB00B28J0V38	Medium risk
M&G Global Strategic Value	Global	GB00B6173L33	Medium risk
Man Japan Core Alpha	Japan	GB00B0119B50	Medium risk
Premier Miton Multi-Asset Growth & Income	Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares	GB00B78H4K93	Medium risk
Vanguard FTSE UK Equity Income Index	UK Equity Income	GB00B59G4H82	Medium risk
WS Morant Wright Nippon Yield	Japan	GB00B42MKS95	Medium risk
Artemis SmartGARP Global Equity	Global	GB00B2PLJP95	Higher risk
Baillie Gifford Pacific	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB0006063126	Higher risk
Barings Eastern Trust	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B2PSLG53	Higher risk
BlackRock Natural Resources	Commodity/Natural Resources	GB00B6865B79	Higher risk
CT Latin America	Latin America	GB0001531754	Higher risk
Fidelity Asia	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B6Y7NF43	Higher risk
Fidelity Emerging Markets	Global Emerging Markets	GB00B9SMK778	Higher risk
Schroder Global Emerging Markets	Global Emerging Markets	GB00B76V5Q67	Higher risk
T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Discovery Equity	Global Emerging Markets	GB00BJL36Z72	Higher risk
WS Guinness Global Energy	Commodity/Natural Resources	GB00B56FW078	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 Emerging Markets Equity	Global Emerging Markets	GB0033228197	Higher risk
abrdn Strategic Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00BWK27X12	Lower risk
Artemis High Income	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B2PLJN71	Lower risk
Invesco European Equity (UK)	Europe Excluding UK	GB00B1W7HP93	Medium risk
Invesco High Yield (UK)	Sterling High Yield	GB00B3RW7649	Lower risk
Royal London Ethical Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00BJ4KSX76	Lower risk
Royal London Sterling Credit	Sterling Corporate Bond	GB00B8GJ8S05	Lower risk
T.Rowe Price Global Value Equity	Global	GB00BLFG9N53	Higher risk
UBS UK Equity Income	UK Equity Income	GB00B4W58959	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 17% (21%)
• UK Fixed Interest 3% (3%)
• Alternatives 6% (6%) - includes absolute return strategies
• North American Equities 5% (7%)
• Emerging Market Equities 9% (10%)
• Asian Equities 10% (9%)
• European Equities 10% (9%)
• Japanese Equities 8% (8%)
• UK Equities 13% (14%)
• Cash 2% (2%)
• China Equities 0% (0%)
• Property Equities 0% (0%)
• Other International Equities 7% (8%)
• Gilts 3% (0%)
• Commodities and Energy 7% (3%)

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.

 

 

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