80-20 Investor Best of the Best Selection – May 2021 Update

Commentary

This month's BOTB follows on from last month's success. Of the 30 funds in April's BOTB, 19 funds have retained their place in May's selection. This is in stark contrast to last time when only 8 funds in March's BOTB made it into April's BOTB. The chart below shows the performance during the month of April of the BOTB against the typical professionally managed funds.

 

It is good to see that the sweeping changes made last time, moving the BOTB away from growth funds in favour of value/cyclical funds, have been rewarded. In fact every single fund in April's BOTB ended the month in positive territory. The table below shows the performance of the top-performing funds during April.

Fund	April % return
Marlborough European Multi-Cap	9.43
Schroder UK Smaller Companies	6.94
FP Octopus UK Micro Cap Growth	6.38
Fidelity UK Smaller Companies	5.38
Wise Funds Limited TB Wise Multi-Asset Growth	4.75

Given the performance of the BOTB, it is unsurprising that the asset mix of the new BOTB remains almost identical to last month's. UK equities remain the largest component of the BOTB, especially smaller companies stocks. Also a reduced exposure to bonds (the lowest for some time) in favour of absolute return funds and multi-asset funds remains the case. There is still no place for gilt funds after their dismal performance in recent months. The overall equity exposure of the BOTB sits around 61%, which is marginally lower than last month's 63%.

At the foot of this article, you can see how the 80-20 Investor selection continues to outperform the professional fund managers as well as the market since its launch six and a half years ago.

Below I list this month's selection in full with the 19 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.

May'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 Growth	Global	GB00B2PLJP95	Medium risk
Artemis Global Income	Global Equity Income	GB00B5N99561	Medium risk
Aviva Inv UK Smaller Companies	UK Smaller Companies	GB0004457312	High risk
AXA Framlington Managed Income	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B7H1PG56	Low risk
Barings Global Agriculture	Specialist	GB00B3B9V927	High risk
Barings Multi Asset	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00B3VBC734	Low risk
BM Brooks Macdonald Defensive Capital	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00B61MR835	Low risk
BNY Mellon Real Return	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00B7VVXF60	Low risk
ES R&M UK Recovery	UK All Companies	GB00B614J053	Medium risk
Fidelity UK Smaller Companies	UK Smaller Companies	GB00B7VNMB18	High risk
FP Apollo Multi Asset Balanced	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B3FPF276	Low risk
FP Pictet Multi Asset Portfolio	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00BVYTTC41	Low risk
HSBC Pacific Index	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB0000150713	Medium risk
Invesco Global Emerging Markets (UK)	Global Emerging Markets	GB00B3RW7S64	High risk
Invesco Global Smaller Companies (UK)	Global	GB00B3RS8K36	High risk
Invesco High Yield (UK)	Sterling High Yield	GB00B3RW7649	Low risk
Jupiter Income Trust	UK Equity Income	GB0004791389	Medium risk
Jupiter UK Smaller Companies Equity	UK Smaller Companies	GB0004911870	High risk
L&G Pacific Index Trust	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B0CNGY27	Medium risk
Marlborough European Multi-Cap	Europe Excluding UK	GB0001719730	High risk
Marlborough High Yield Fixed Interest	Sterling High Yield	GB00B03TN153	Low risk
Premier Miton Worldwide Opportunities	Flexible Investment	GB0031831133	Medium risk
Schroder MM Diversity	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B60CZD52	Low risk
Schroder QEP Global Active Value	Global	GB00B76V8G74	Medium risk
Schroder Strategic Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B7FPS593	Low risk
Schroder UK Smaller Companies	UK Smaller Companies	GB00B76V7Z98	High risk
Schroder US Mid Cap	North America	GB00B7LDLV43	Medium risk
SVM UK Opportunities	UK All Companies	GB0032064304	High risk
VT De Lisle America	North America	GB00B3QF3G69	High risk
Wise Funds Limited TB Wise Multi-Asset Growth	Flexible Investment	GB0034272533	Medium risk

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

Here is May'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
AXA Framlington Managed Income	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B7H1PG56	Low risk
Barings Multi Asset	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00B3VBC734	Low risk
BM Brooks Macdonald Defensive Capital	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00B61MR835	Low risk
BNY Mellon Real Return	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00B7VVXF60	Low risk
FP Apollo Multi Asset Balanced	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B3FPF276	Low risk
FP Pictet Multi Asset Portfolio	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00BVYTTC41	Low risk
Invesco High Yield (UK)	Sterling High Yield	GB00B3RW7649	Low risk
Marlborough High Yield Fixed Interest	Sterling High Yield	GB00B03TN153	Low risk
Schroder MM Diversity	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B60CZD52	Low risk
Schroder Strategic Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B7FPS593	Low risk
Artemis Global Growth	Global	GB00B2PLJP95	Medium risk
Artemis Global Income	Global Equity Income	GB00B5N99561	Medium risk
ES R&M UK Recovery	UK All Companies	GB00B614J053	Medium risk
HSBC Pacific Index	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB0000150713	Medium risk
Jupiter Income Trust	UK Equity Income	GB0004791389	Medium risk
L&G Pacific Index Trust	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B0CNGY27	Medium risk
Premier Miton Worldwide Opportunities	Flexible Investment	GB0031831133	Medium risk
Schroder QEP Global Active Value	Global	GB00B76V8G74	Medium risk
Schroder US Mid Cap	North America	GB00B7LDLV43	Medium risk
Wise Funds Limited TB Wise Multi-Asset Growth	Flexible Investment	GB0034272533	Medium risk
Aviva Inv UK Smaller Companies	UK Smaller Companies	GB0004457312	High risk
Barings Global Agriculture	Specialist	GB00B3B9V927	High risk
Fidelity UK Smaller Companies	UK Smaller Companies	GB00B7VNMB18	High risk
Invesco Global Emerging Markets (UK)	Global Emerging Markets	GB00B3RW7S64	High risk
Invesco Global Smaller Companies (UK)	Global	GB00B3RS8K36	High risk
Jupiter UK Smaller Companies Equity	UK Smaller Companies	GB0004911870	High risk
Marlborough European Multi-Cap	Europe Excluding UK	GB0001719730	High risk
Schroder UK Smaller Companies	UK Smaller Companies	GB00B76V7Z98	High risk
SVM UK Opportunities	UK All Companies	GB0032064304	High risk
VT De Lisle America	North America	GB00B3QF3G69	High 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
Allianz UK Opportunities	UK All Companies	GB00B8BB9445	High risk
Artemis SmartGARP Global Emerging Markets Equity	Global Emerging Markets	GB00BW9HL132	Medium risk
Courtiers Total Return Cautious Risk	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B1P2K418	Low risk
Fidelity American Special Situations	North America	GB00B89ST706	High risk
FP Octopus UK Micro Cap Growth	UK Smaller Companies	GB00BYQ7HN43	High risk
Invesco Asian (UK)	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B1W7HW60	Medium risk
Premier Miton UK Value Opportunities	UK All Companies	GB00B8KV0M06	High risk
Schroder Global Equity Income	Global Equity Income	GB00B76V7M69	Medium risk
Schroder High Yield Opportunities	Sterling High Yield	GB00B83RDY83	Low risk
Schroder Monthly Income	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B78ST188	Low risk
Schroder UK Dynamic Absolute Return	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00B3N74T57	Low 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 11% (11%)
• Alternatives 18% (17%) - includes absolute return strategies & some bond exposure
• UK Corporate Fixed Interest (i.e UK bonds) 0% (3%)
• Emerging Market Fixed Income 0% (0%)
• North American Equities 14% (12%)
• European Equities 4% (3%)
• Chinese Equities 0% (0%)
• Japanese Equities 0% (0%)
• Property 0% (0%)
• UK Equities 23% (24%)
• Gilts 0% (0%)
• Cash 5% (5%)
• Asian / Emerging market equities 8% (10%)
• Other international equities 12% (10%)
• Commodities and Energy 5% (5%)

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 a FTSE 100 tracker fund (the black line) and 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 portfolio has outperformed the average managed fund and the market.

 

 

 

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