10 UK fund and trust tips for 2017
20th January 2017 15:35
by Faith Glasgow from interactive investor
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Money Observer's panels of collective investment experts pull together a range of fund and investment trust tips for the UK, in growth and income.
You can find a profile of our panellists at the end of this article.
JO Hambro UK Equity Income
Core growing income and growth
has one of the best track records for income growth year after year, says Brian Dennehy. He also points out that when it comes to total returns, the fund is among the top 20% of performers over virtually every timeframe in the past decade.
Managers Clive Beagles and James Lowen stick mainly to the big blue-chip names in the .
Liontrust Special Situations
Core growth
was tipped across the board, with three of our panel members marking the fund down as their number one choice for core growth, due to the fund managers' careful approach to the construction of their portfolio.
Jason Broomer says Anthony Cross and Julian Fosh look for companies that have a durable competitive edge - steady businesses generating high levels of cash.
River and Mercantile UK Equity Long Term Recovery
Adventurous growth
just about edged out competitors on grounds of its "value" style, which has been tipped to come back into fashion in 2017.
Value has been deeply out of favour versus "quality growth" over the past five years. Burdett adds: "It's volatile, but worthwhile in my view."
Standard Life UK Equity Income Unconstrained
Adventurous income and growth
It has been a tough year for fund manager Thomas Moore, but his impressive long-term performance means he can be forgiven.
Alan Steel notes the fund's bias towards mid and small-caps has not paid off in 2016 because of the Brexit fallout, but he thinks that the fund "is overdue a strong recovery" in 2017. Moore avoids banks popular with other income funds.
Schroder Income Maximiser
Immediate income
Those who desire immediate income today at the expense of reduced capital growth need look no further than , which has a juicy 6% yield.
The fund uses a complicated derivatives strategy in order to magnify the amount of income generated.
John Husselbee explains: "The managers sell away some of the potential upside of their holdings in exchange for additional income and capital preservation in falling markets."
The Merchants Trust
Income and growth
Managed by Simon Gergel at Allianz Global Investors, has grown its dividend for 34 consecutive years and has decent revenue reserves to support future growth.
Meanwhile its portfolio of blue-chips is more focused on the FTSE 100 than many of its peers, and this has served it well of late.
Andrew McHattie says Merchant's attractive yield helps to underpin its share price, and its discount could tighten when some expensive debt matures in 2018, reducing borrowing costs.
Temple Bar Trust
Income and growth
has been one of the stars of the UK equity income sector since last February's market setback, and Peter Hewitt hopes that manager Alastair Mundy's value-oriented approach should continue to work well in a difficult environment for UK equities.
Two thirds of its portfolio is in FTSE 100 companies. The dividend has been raised every year since 1983, and is now paid quarterly.
Standard Life Equity Income Trust
Income and growth
has seen its discount widen following a disappointing year. But Jean Matterson likes it because Thomas Moore's disciplined stock-picking approach differentiates it from other UK income growth trusts.
"It is not dependent on the large UK companies for income, preferring the multi-cap approach and finding stocks that have sound growth prospects along with increasing payouts," she says.
Schroder UK Mid Cap Trust
Adventurous growth
Post-Brexit worries combined with the departure of co-manager Rosemary Banyard have seen the discount on balloon out to a five-year high. Tim Cockerill believes this could be a good entry point.
Longstanding manager Andy Brough remains in place, and a recovery in UK domestic stocks and a tightening discount could help it perform well in 2017.
Alan Borrows also favours mid-caps in the UK equity market following the Brexit sell-off. "Over the long term they will outperform," he says.
BlackRock Throgmorton Trust
Adventurous growth
John Newlands thinks looks substantially undervalued, given its good long-term record.
He believes the appointment of Dan Whitestone to work with the highly experienced manager Mike Prentis has enhanced its prospects, and contends that the trust's unusual ability to achieve a long-short strategic overlay via a sub-portfolio of contracts of differences "gives it some downside protection, which may be no bad thing in a changeable post-Brexit world."
Meet our fund panellists
Robert Burdett
Robert Burdett began managing funds of funds at Rothschild and then Credit Suisse. In 2007 he joined Thames River to help set up its multi-manager business, later taken over by F&C.
Brian Dennehy
Brian Dennehy is managing director of advisory firm Dennehy Weller. In 2012 he launched FundExpert, a fund platform for self-directed investors looking for fund research.
Mick Gilligan
Mick Gilligan is a partner in private client stockbroker Killik & Co. He is currently head of research. He analyses funds and trusts and manages the firm's multi-manager portfolio service.
Jason Broomer
Jason Broomer has more than two decades' experience in fund research and running portfolios for private clients. He runs Square Mile's managed portfolio service.
John Husselbee
John Husselbee is head of the Liontrust multi-asset team. He has 25 years of experience in managing multi-manager portfolios, including at Henderson and Rothschild.
Alan Steel
Alan Steel became an IFA in 1973, and launched his firm Alan Steel Asset Management in 1975. It now advises over 2,000 families, with more than £1 billion under management.
Meet our investment trust panellists
Alan Borrows
Alan Borrows is a senior fund manager at Liverpool-based Seneca Investment Managers, which favours a value-oriented approach to multi-asset investment.
Jean Matterson
Jean Matterson is a partner at Edinburgh-based Rossie House Investment Management, which has long favoured investment trusts for private client portfolios.
John Newlands
John Newlands has overall responsibility for investment trust research at Brewin Dolphin. It has £33 billion under management, of which over £4 billion is in investment trusts.
Tim Cockerill
Tim Cockerill is investment director of Bristol-based Rowan Dartington which has client assets in excess of £1 billion. Investment trusts have featured in its portfolios for many years.
Andrew McHattie
Andrew McHattie runs The McHattie Group, an authorised firm which publishes a specialist investment newsletter. He has been the editor of Investment Trust Newsletter since 1966.
Peter Hewitt
Peter Hewitt has run the F&C Managed Portfolio trust since 2008, having managed its forerunner, F&C Managed Portfolio Service, since 2002. He previously worked at Ivory & Sime.
This article was originally published in our sister magazine Money Observer. Click here to subscribe.
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.