Commentary
Of the 30 funds in October's BOTB, 20 funds have retained their place in November's selection in another sign of consistency. The chart below illustrates the average performance of the BOTB during October (the blue line) against a benchmark that uses the respective sector averages for each fund in the BOTB, assuming the same asset mix (the green line). You can see that the BOTB significantly outperformed the average professionally managed fund from the Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares sector (grey line).
The top-performing funds in October's BOTB are highlighted below, which includes short-dated bond funds as well as alternative assets. Thesis TM Tellworth UK Select, which is my own £50k portfolio, tops the chart.
| Fund | October 2023 % return |
| Thesis TM Tellworth UK Select | 1.39 |
| M&G Short Dated Corporate Bond | 0.73 |
| WS Canlife Short Duration Corporate Bond | 0.58 |
| Man GLG Sterling Corporate Bond | 0.5 |
| Premier Miton Strategic Monthly Income Bond | 0.29 |
At the other end of the scale, UK equities and technology focused funds struggled with the latter hit by a stronger US dollar and rising bond yields as explained in November's monthly newsletter. Interestingly, both UBS US Equity and Liontrust Global Technology retained their place in the BOTB, despite their disappointing October performances, and in just the first 3 days of November they have rallied 2.64% and 5.27% respectively.
| Fund | October 2023 % return |
| UBS US Equity | -4.27 |
| MI Metropolis Value | -4.72 |
| Man GLG Income | -5.15 |
| Man GLG Undervalued Assets | -6.16 |
| Liontrust Global Technology | -6.23 |
In terms of asset mix, UK equities exposure has been all but removed from the BOTB with US equities now making up almost 30% of the BOTB asset mix. The allocation to Emerging Market Equities (across Asia and the Americas) has also increased, indicating a further pivot towards emerging markets. There's also new exposure to commodity stocks (more specifically energy stocks) plus a modest uptick in UK Fixed Interest. Overall the total equity exposure has decreased marginally and returned to 62%, down from to 64%. You can see the full asset mix breakdown later in this article.
Below I list this month's selection in full with the 20 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.
November'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 | GB00B79RR984 | Lower risk |
| Artemis Global Income | Global Equity Income | GB00B5N99561 | Medium risk |
| Artemis SmartGARP European Equity | Europe Excluding UK | GB00B2PLJD73 | Higher risk |
| Artemis US Select | North America | GB00BMMV5105 | Medium risk |
| AXA Framlington Global Technology | Technology & Technology Innovation | GB00B4W52V57 | Higher risk |
| AXA Global Short Duration Bonds | Sterling Strategic Bond | GB00BDFZQV30 | Lower risk |
| Barclays Wealth Wealth Global Markets 4 | Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares | GB00B4ZFH287 | Medium risk |
| CT High Yield Bond | Sterling High Yield | GB0008371014 | Lower risk |
| CT Latin America | Latin America | GB0001531754 | Higher risk |
| Fidelity American | North America | GB00B8GPC429 | Medium risk |
| Fidelity Japan | Japan | GB00B882N041 | Medium risk |
| FTF Franklin US Opportunities | North America | GB00B7KCG406 | Higher risk |
| Invesco Emerging Markets ex China (UK) | Global Emerging Markets | GB00B3RW8X82 | Higher risk |
| Invesco Global Equity (UK) | Global | GB00B3RS9Q62 | Medium risk |
| Jupiter India | India/Indian Subcontinent | GB00B2NHJ040 | Higher risk |
| L&G Global 100 Index Trust | Global | GB00B0CNH056 | Medium risk |
| Lazard Emerging Markets | Global Emerging Markets | GB00B24F1G74 | Higher risk |
| Liontrust Global Technology | Technology & Technology Innovation | GB00BYXZ5N79 | Higher risk |
| M&G Short Dated Corporate Bond | Sterling Corporate Bond | GB0031110397 | Lower risk |
| Man GLG Absolute Value | Targeted Absolute Return | GB00BF1X8084 | Lower risk |
| Premier Miton Strategic Monthly Income Bond | Sterling Strategic Bond | GB00BMWVS110 | Lower risk |
| Schroder High Yield Opportunities | Sterling High Yield | GB00B83RDY83 | Lower risk |
| Schroder Strategic Credit | Sterling Strategic Bond | GB00BJZ2ZC09 | Lower risk |
| T. Rowe Price Global Focused Growth Equity | Global | GB00BD446774 | 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 |
| UBS US Equity | North America | GB00B7V68L26 | Medium risk |
| WS Canlife Short Duration Corporate Bond | Sterling Corporate Bond | GB00BD0CNM97 | Lower risk |
| WS Guinness Global Energy | Commodity/Natural Resource | GB00B56FW078 | Higher risk |
| WS Morant Wright Nippon Yield | Japan | GB00B42MKS95 | Medium risk |
November's Best of the Best Selection - (grouped by risk)
Here is November'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 |
| abrdn High Yield Bond | Sterling High Yield | GB00B79RR984 | Lower risk |
| AXA Global Short Duration Bonds | Sterling Strategic Bond | GB00BDFZQV30 | Lower risk |
| CT High Yield Bond | Sterling High Yield | GB0008371014 | Lower risk |
| M&G Short Dated Corporate Bond | Sterling Corporate Bond | GB0031110397 | Lower risk |
| Man GLG Absolute Value | Targeted Absolute Return | GB00BF1X8084 | Lower risk |
| Premier Miton Strategic Monthly Income Bond | Sterling Strategic Bond | GB00BMWVS110 | Lower risk |
| Schroder High Yield Opportunities | Sterling High Yield | GB00B83RDY83 | Lower risk |
| Schroder Strategic Credit | Sterling Strategic Bond | GB00BJZ2ZC09 | Lower risk |
| Thesis TM Tellworth UK Select | Targeted Absolute Return | GB00BNY7YM73 | Lower risk |
| WS Canlife Short Duration Corporate Bond | Sterling Corporate Bond | GB00BD0CNM97 | Lower risk |
| Artemis Global Income | Global Equity Income | GB00B5N99561 | Medium risk |
| Artemis US Select | North America | GB00BMMV5105 | Medium risk |
| Barclays Wealth Wealth Global Markets 4 | Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares | GB00B4ZFH287 | Medium risk |
| Fidelity American | North America | GB00B8GPC429 | Medium risk |
| Fidelity Japan | Japan | GB00B882N041 | Medium risk |
| Invesco Global Equity (UK) | Global | GB00B3RS9Q62 | Medium risk |
| L&G Global 100 Index Trust | Global | GB00B0CNH056 | Medium risk |
| T. Rowe Price Global Focused Growth Equity | Global | GB00BD446774 | Medium risk |
| UBS US Equity | North America | GB00B7V68L26 | Medium risk |
| WS Morant Wright Nippon Yield | Japan | GB00B42MKS95 | Medium risk |
| Artemis SmartGARP European Equity | Europe Excluding UK | GB00B2PLJD73 | Higher risk |
| AXA Framlington Global Technology | Technology & Technology Innovation | GB00B4W52V57 | Higher risk |
| CT Latin America | Latin America | GB0001531754 | Higher risk |
| FTF Franklin US Opportunities | North America | GB00B7KCG406 | Higher risk |
| Invesco Emerging Markets ex China (UK) | Global Emerging Markets | GB00B3RW8X82 | Higher risk |
| Jupiter India | India/Indian Subcontinent | GB00B2NHJ040 | Higher risk |
| Lazard Emerging Markets | Global Emerging Markets | GB00B24F1G74 | Higher risk |
| Liontrust Global Technology | Technology & Technology Innovation | GB00BYXZ5N79 | Higher risk |
| T. Rowe Price US Large Cap Growth Equity | North America | GB00BD5FHW12 | Higher risk |
| WS Guinness Global Energy | Commodity/Natural Resource | 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 |
| AXA Global High Yield | Sterling High Yield | GB00B29NGF01 | Lower risk |
| AXA US Short Duration High Yield Bond | Global Bonds | GB00B59VLT43 | Lower risk |
| Jupiter Merlin Growth Portfolio | Flexible Investment | GB0003629267 | Medium risk |
| Liontrust India | India/Indian Subcontinent | GB00B1L6DV51 | Higher risk |
| Man GLG Income | UK Equity Income | GB00B0117C28 | Higher risk |
| Man GLG Sterling Corporate Bond | Sterling Corporate Bond | GB00BNLYQX62 | Lower risk |
| Man GLG Undervalued Assets | UK All Companies | GB00BFH3NC99 | Higher risk |
| MI Metropolis Value | Global | GB00B3LDLX86 | Medium risk |
| Royal London Global Equity Select | Global | GB00BF93W972 | Medium risk |
| Troy Asset Management Ltd Trojan Global Equity | Global | GB00B0ZJ5S47 | 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 23% (24%)
- UK Fixed Interest 3% (0%)
- Alternatives 10% (8%) - includes absolute return strategies
- North American Equities 29% (27%)
- American Emerging Market Equities 4% (0%)
- Asian Emerging Market Equities 8% (7%)
- European Equities 6% (5%)
- Japanese Equities 7% (7%)
- UK Equities 2% (10%)
- Cash 2% (4%)
- China Equities 0% (0%)
- Other international equities 3% (8%)
- 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.
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