Leaders and laggards - Model Portfolio Oct 15 update

To view a detailed quarterly round up of Money Observer's Model Portfolios' performance, read:No escape from the summer's China-induced tantrums.

Leading income holding

Henderson UK Property

Property funds have recently been attractive to investors looking for income and security, as well as for diversification away from bond funds. Henderson UK Property appears in both our immediate income portfolios.

Although not always the best performer in its sector, its experienced management team is seen as a safe pair of hands: it has a steady record and has one of the highest yields.

When looking for potential investments the team focuses on five main qualities: long leases, high occupancy, popular areas, quality tenants and quality buildings.

It aims for the properties it owns to possess at least three of these. It also maintains a reasonable amount of cash so there are no problems when investors want their money back.

Leading growth holding

CF Miton UK Value Opportunities

For the second consecutive quarter, our top-performing growth fund and top performer overall is CF Miton UK Value Opportunities. It appears in two of the growth portfolios.

Its managers, George Godber and Georgina Hamilton, seek out companies they believe are undervalued by the rest of the market. It invests in companies of all sizes.

Currently it holds around a third in medium-sized companies and only 16% in FTSE 100 stocks, with the remainder in smaller companies and Alternative Investment Market stocks.

The managers look for companies that are financially strong, which they say ensures the resilience of their portfolio. This strategy certainly appears to have worked recently.

Lagging income holding

Schroder Oriental Income

Schroder Oriental Income was added to Lima, our higher-risk, growing income portfolio at the last review, following a change of manager at Newton Asian Income, our previous holding.

It is not surprising that the Schroder trust has plummeted recently, bearing in mind the stockmarket volatility in that part of the world; nevertheless we still believe the long-term prospects are good, and have confidence in Matthew Dobbs, the highly experienced manager.

Dobbs points out that a number of Asian companies have increased their dividends recently, which he believes is encouraging, and that lower input costs are supporting corporate margins generally in the region.

Lagging growth holding

BlackRock World Mining

After a brief improvement in its position last quarter, BlackRock World Mining is back at the bottom of the chart after a disastrous three months for commodities. The main influence on sentiment towards commodities is what is happening in China, which accounts for much of the potential demand.

In September, the trust's net asset value (NAV) performance was one of the worst in the investment trust industry. One of its largest holdings is the trouble-ridden mining group, Glencore.

However, as the managers continue to stress, the continuing reduction in mining capacity globally will limit the industry's ability to respond to the next upturn in demand, which will ultimately see prices go higher.

This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.