Rathbone Global won’t change approach despite end of winning streak The fund is having a harder time as its investment style has gone out of favour
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any growth funds are facing the same problem. What do they do when their investing style is out of favour after a long period of being successful? In this scenario investors should be most concerned when a fund manager changes their approach to try and make gains from whatever is working in the market. It rarely works out well when portfolio managers move out of their comfort zone and change their investment style. James Thomson, lead manager on popular fund Rathbone Global Opportunities (B7FQLN1), is adamant he won’t go down this route.
Rathbone Global Opportunities total return Rathbone Global Opportunities Fund R Acc Benchmark : Investment Association Global Sector 6 months
1 year
3 years
5 years
10 years
−26% −15% −19% −9% 14% 19% 44% 37% 222% 166%
Chart: Shares magazine • Source: FE Analytics, 23 June 2022
He tells Shares that while it is true that we’re going back to investing in a world which isn’t so binary and it is important for investors to have balance in their own portfolios, he is not going to change how his fund is run. Thomson says: ‘You shouldn’t rip up the script in difficult times – styles come in and out of favour – but we have a track record of long-term success.’ This means the fund will continue to avoid the commodities sector, where companies’ fortunes are dictated by market prices which are outside of their control. Thomson will also avoid firms in what he calls ‘sunset industries’ where there is waning or no growth. Aiming to be consistent doesn’t mean doing nothing. In 2021 the Rathbone fund moved out of some of the ‘stay at home’ Covid winners like Netflix (NFLX:NASDAQ) and software firm Salesforce (CRM:NYSE). The fund also reduced its technology exposure from 29% during the height of the pandemic to less than 20% today. TRACK RECORD On a one and three-year view Rathbone Global Opportunities has underperformed its benchmark, the Investment Association’s global sector. However, over five years it has returned 44.4% 07 July 2022 | SHARES |
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