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Old Mutual Elite Dollar Aggressive Fund - News
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Old Mutual Elite Dollar Aggressive Fund
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Fund
News
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Old Mutual Elite US$ Aggressive comment - Dec 03
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Wednesday, 28 January 2004
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Fund Manager Comment
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| Global equity markets rose strongly over Q4 and this was reflected in the Aggressive portfolio, gaining by an excellent 11.81% during Q4, and 5.17% in December. If policymakers are to be believed, conditions for business remain favourable and talk is of a sustained period of stable growth, which, if it materialises, could mean there is further upside in equities over 2004.
The portfolio has had a strong 2003 gaining 38.00% against a benchmark performance of 33.09%. This highlights the excellent management skills being used within the Elite portfolios. All of the key markets have enjoyed good success in 2003 after a poor first quarter, but the tactical allocation of these regions has served the portfolio well. The portfolio's UK managers benefited from taking on a higher level of market exposure during the rising market, and were helped considerably by an overweight exposure to cyclically sensitive stocks. This performed much more strongly than traditional value stocks across the board, and this was a theme experienced across all regions.
The global equity managers used by the fund performed particularly strongly, benefiting from overweight exposure to Japan and a strategic underweight to the US. The style of these managers over the final quarter generally has been to take on additional market bias, and this has benefited the portfolio as markets rallied. In addition, the global managers benefited from some particularly strong stock selection in the pharmaceutical and telecoms sectors. The overweight Japanese section of the portfolio performed particularly strongly by focusing on mid cap stocks, as well as those with a local bias. The portfolio was therefore considerably boosted by the swelling demand for Japanese exports over the quarter. This was due in no small measure to demand from an increasingly import-hungry US economy. In Europe, the managers benefited from strong country selection and their underweight in more defensive stocks
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Old Mutual Elite US$ Aggressive comment - Oct 03
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Wednesday, 26 November 2003
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Fund Manager Comment
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| Elite Aggressive continued the strong performance enjoyed in recent months, gaining 4.9% during October, and 11.5% over the past three months. The global equity managers used by the fund performed particularly strongly, benefiting from overweight exposure to Japan and a strategic underweight in the US section of their mandate. The style of these managers over the third quarter generally has been to take on additional market bias, and this has benefited the portfolio as markets rallied. In addition, the global managers benefited from some particularly strong stock selection in the pharmaceutical and telecoms sectors.
The Aggressive portfolio has also benefited recently from the additional emerging markets exposure it contains. The MSCI Emerging Markets Free index outperformed broader global equites by nearly 3% during October. Many of the Asian markets that constitute the emerging markets section of the portfolio have benefited from the strong upturn in US GDP growth, as they have filled the rising demand for their exported goods caused by the increase in economic activity. The First State Global Emerging Markets fund performed particularly strongly, gaining more than 9.4% in the month, outperformed the index by more than 1%.
In the US section of the portfolio, the bias towards smallcap stocks taken on by a number of the managers was beneficial to the portfolio, as was stock selection in a number of key areas. Among the best investment ideas generated were Paychex, the payroll, human resources and benefits outsourcing company, and Solectron, who provide design, manufacturing and post-manufacturing services.
The overweight Japanese section of the portfolio performed particularly strongly by focusing on mid cap stocks, as well as those with a local bias. The portfolio was therefore considerably boosted by the swelling demand for Japanese exports over the quarter. This was due in no small measure to demand from an increasingly import-hungry US economy. Some elements of stock selection hindered overall relative performance, however.
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Old Mutual Elite US$ Aggressive comment - Sep 03
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Thursday, 13 November 2003
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Fund Manager Comment
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| The Aggressive Portfolio continues to benefit from the strong rally we have witnessed in global equities over the previous six months. During that period, the portfolio has gained 28.8% in dollar terms.
The manager has successfully maintained the momentum generated since the initial post-war bounce in Mar 03, with the portfolio gaining 8.3% over the 3 months ending 30 Sep 03. This compares to a gain in the portfolio's index of 6.7% during the quarter, and a gain on the MSCI World of 4.4% in dollar terms.
Many of the gains we have seen over the past three months have come from positions in Asian markets, where this portfolio has a particular focus at present. Banking sector shares in particular have been performing well in Japan, as the government looks likely to undertake reform in that area.
Strong performers over the quarter have been Legg Mason US Small Cap and Old Mutual UK Select Smaller Companies, both of which have benefited from the particularly strong rally in economically sensitive small cap stocks since the market lows in March.
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Old Mutual Elite US$ Aggressive comment - Aug 03
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Thursday, 18 September 2003
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Fund Manager Comment
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| The Aggressive portfolio continues to perform exceptionally well. Over the past year it has outperformed its benchmark by over 4%. During the month of August the portfolio rose 4.63% against a benchmark gain of 3.09%.
A key part to the outperformance over the month was down to the inclusion of the HSBC Indian equity fund which was added recently to the portfolio. This fund was an excellent play as it gained by over 13% over August, benefiting from the strong buying of Indian equities as prices recover from last years drought-hit valuations.
Good economic data from the US and Japan helped the Far East and Emerging Markets perform well over the month. Invesco GT Asia Enterprise rose over 7% in August and this too has been a strong recent addition to the Aggressive portfolio.
In the US portion of the portfolio there was strong performance from the Wanger US Smaller Companies fund and also the Legg Mason Smaller Companies fund. Since the equity rebound began in March, it has been predominantly led by the smaller cap stocks. This trend continued during August and the Aggressive portfolio benefited from the manager being overweight the smaller cap sector.
Mid-Small cap funds performed best in the UK too, leading to strong performance from the Old Mutual UK Select Smaller Companies fund, up over 5% for the month while the FTSE All-Share index was up only 0.92% over August.
Odey Continental Europe performed well, up almost 5% in August, while Gartmore European did well too, beating its benchmark by over 1%.
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Old Mutual Elite US$ Aggressive comment - Jul 03
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Tuesday, 26 August 2003
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Fund Manager Comment
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| The Aggressive portfolio continues to perform well as global equities posted their fourth consecutive monthly gain. The portfolio rose 2.22% while the MSCI World index rose 1.92% over July.
The US component of the portfolio saw most funds beat the S&P 500. GAM Star American Focus was the best performer from the large cap holdings - returning over 3% for the month (the S&P 500 rose by 1.62%). The Legg Mason US Small Cap fund produced returns of over 10% for the month, emphasising the fact that smaller caps stocks had the better of large caps in July. In particular the fund had a large exposure to technology stocks which helped to boost performance.
In the UK portion of the portfolio too it was small cap stocks which outperformed the larger cap stocks, and this led to the satellite holdings beating the core holdings for the month.
Markets continued to rally in the Far East, bouncing further away from the SARS induced lows. Invesco Asia GT Enterprise was the star performer in this region, returning almost 9% for the month. The HSBC Indian Equity fund has been introduced to the Aggressive portfolio in July at the expense of the Templeton Eastern Europe fund.
All three of the Japanese funds managed to outperform the Topix index in July. In stark contrast to the US and UK it was the large cap stocks which were in favour here on expectations there would be a turnaround in fortunes for the long struggling Japanese economy. Export driven stocks were the chief gainers as foreign buyers flocked back to the market.
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Old Mutual Elite US$ Aggressive comment - Jun 03
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Tuesday, 12 August 2003
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Fund Manager Comment
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| The Aggressive portfolio turned in excellent performance over the second quarter of the year, beating its benchmark comfortably over the period. April and May were particularly strong for equities as they bounced back from a slow start to the year, and this helped the portfolio to deliver returns of almost 20% in the last three months.
There have been some changes to the portfolio over the quarter. The strong gains seen in the Eastern Europe funds have been locked in. The manager sold out of the Baring Eastern Europe holding and bought instead the Invesco GT Asia Enterprise fund as the outlook for Asia is looking like a more positive region. Declines appear overdone as a result of the SARS outbreak in the region and now buyers are returning to the market. The Invesco fund is an aggressive one investing across sectors and market cap.
Within the US portion, two new funds were added. These were the Investec American Equity fund and the Legg Mason US Smaller Companies fund. The Deutsche Micro-cap and the Govett US Opportunities funds were removed from the portfolio to make way for the new holdings.
The other change to note in the portfolio came in the European exposure. Investec European was removed after a period of underperformance and this was replaced by the Artemis European Growth fund. This fund is top decile over long periods and has outperformed its benchmark by 8% in Sterling terms.
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Old Mutual Elite US$ Aggressive comment - May 03
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Thursday, 19 June 2003
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Fund Manager Comment
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| The Aggressive portfolio turned in another excellent month over May, returning 7.44%. This was considerably ahead of the benchmark which delivered 5.81%. The active management style of this portfolio continued with some changes being implemented at the end of the month.
Within the US portion, two new funds have been added. These are the Investec American Equity fund and the Legg Mason US Smaller Companies fund. The Deutsche Micro-cap and the Govett US Opportunities funds have been removed from the portfolio to make way for the new holdings.
Legg Mason US Smaller Companies is a well diversified fund of between 200-300 stocks and the fund complements the Wanger US Smaller Companies fund which is a good deal more concentrated, holding 40-50 stocks. The Investec American fund comes with an exemplary track record, having been in the top decile over all periods since its launch. The style employed by this fund is of a bottom up stock picking nature where the analysts look at the company's intrinsic value.
The other change to note in the portfolio came in the European exposure. Investec European has been removed after a period of underperformance and this has been replaced by the Artemis European Growth fund. This fund is also top decile over long periods and has outperformed its benchmark by 8% in sterling terms.
The thematic portion has been a key to the strong performance of the Aggressive portfolio. Both the Baring Eastern Europe and Templeton Eastern Europe funds significantly outperformed their benchmarks over May. Strong performance was seen from the Emerging Markets portion too, leading to a very good month for the Aggressive portfolio.
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Old Mutual Elite US$ Aggressive comment - Apr 03
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Thursday, 12 June 2003
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Fund Manager Comment
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| In a month where global equities surged by over 8%, the Aggressive portfolio was well positioned to capture those gains. The portfolio returned 9.02% on the month, beating its benchmark comfortably in the process.
In the US portion, the star performer was once again the Legg Mason Strategic Value fund. This fund is weighted towards the larger cap stocks and in particular overweight in financials, which was the best performing sector on the S&P 500. Information Technology and Telecoms were two other sectors, which led the charge in US markets.
UK markets followed global equities higher, rising almost 9% in April. The small cap sector performed slightly better than the large caps. IT and Telecoms were strong in the UK too and this led to the GAM UK Diversified fund being the best performer over the month, recovering well from a poor previous couple of months.
Year to date, the thematic portion has been an excellent play. The idea to concentrate on the Eastern European region has been rewarded by strong performance once again. Baring Eastern Europe and Templeton Eastern Europe both gained over 14% in April and are up handsomely since the beginning of the year.
The emerging markets exposure has added significant value to the portfolio over April. Eastern Europe has been a key driver to these returns with the best performing individual region being Turkey. Latin America performed strongly as a region too, with the Morgan Stanley fund gaining 14% over the month.
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Old Mutual Elite US$ Aggressive comment - Mar 03
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Friday, 23 May 2003
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Fund Manager Comment
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| During what have been very trying times for equity markets, the Aggressive portfolio has stood up very well, beating its benchmark for the quarter.
Changes were made to the thematic portion of the portfolio in Q1, moving away from the Asia region and the biotechnology sector, to focus further on the Eastern European exposure. Selling the Schroder Japan Active Value fund and Franklin Templeton Biotech Discovery fund facilitated this move. The Franklin Templeton Biotech fund performed very strongly during the market bounce in Q4 2002, however 2003 saw markets retreat, therefore the manager felt that this was a good opportunity to refocus the portfolio.
The Baring Eastern Europe fund has been added to the Templeton Eastern European fund which has been retained in this thematic portion. The manager still sees Eastern Europe as a good region for investment, with particular attribution coming from the current movement towards convergence.
The Wanger US Smaller Companies fund, which replaced the Schroder US Small Cap fund in Q1, has proven to be a good move as this was the best performing fund in the US portion of the portfolio. Smaller companies still offer pockets of growth amid troubled equity markets, and this fund, managed by Robert Mohn, has comfortably outperformed the Russell 2000 (its benchmark) over the last year. The fund invests in 40-50 stocks with the objective to find companies which the firm's analysts believe will grow by 20% a year. This new addition now sits very well in the US portion as it complements the Deutsche fund which has a Micro-cap focus.
Within the UK portion, Invesco UK Aggressive has been sold to accommodate Gartmore UK Focus. Gartmore is a stock specific fund with a manager that looks to take more aggressive positions than the Invesco fund. The flexibility of the Gartmore fund has enabled it to perform admirably on the downside, beating the FTSE All-Share over the last year. The star UK performer in the portfolio during March was the Credit Suisse Income fund, beating its benchmark by close to 2%.
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Old Mutual Elite US$ Aggressive comment - Feb 03
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Friday, 28 March 2003
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Fund Manager Comment
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| February saw the Elite Aggressive portfolio once more outperform its benchmark by over 0.5%. This represents very strong performance given the current climate in the equity markets.
The main contributor, by region, to the outperformance was from the emerging market portion of the portfolio. All funds selected in this element of the portfolio were ahead of their respective benchmarks and all contributed well to overall portfolio performance. Colonial First State Asia Pacific and BDT Global were 2% ahead while Aberdeen Frontier Markets, Morgan Stanley Latin America and JP Morgan India were also relatively good performers.
The thematic portion of the portfolio also held up well and produced outperformance against the benchmark. The Baring Eastern Europe fund was 3% ahead of its benchmark whilst Templeton was ahead by 1%. The manager continues to favour the Eastern Europe region as the thematic element of the Aggressive portfolio as he seeks particular attribution from the current movement towards convergence.
The Wanger US Smaller Companies fund, which replaced the Schroder US Small Cap fund in January has proven to be a good move as this was the best performing fund in the US portion of the portfolio. Smaller companies have outperformed blue chip stocks over the past year, and this fund, managed by Robert Mohn, has comfortably outperformed the Russell 2000 (its benchmark) over the last year. The fund invests in 40-50 stocks with the objective to find companies which the firms analysts believe will grow by 20% a year.
Within the UK portion, the funds had a poor month leading to underperformance in this portion of the portfolio. GAM UK Diversified, which has been one of the strongest performers recently, gave up most ground as the markets seemed to retreat to the more defensive stocks.
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Old Mutual Elite US$ Aggressive comment - Jan 03
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Wednesday, 26 March 2003
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Fund Manager Comment
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| Performance from the Elite Aggressive portfolio has once again outperformed the benchmark over January. Equity markets did suffer negative returns once more across the board, but the Aggressive portfolio has now performed better than its benchmark over 1, 3, 6 months and over 1 year.
Changes have been made in the thematic portion of the portfolio over January. The focus was previously in Asia and Eastern Europe with some exposure also to biotechnology. However this has now moved solely to concentrate on Eastern Europe. Selling the Schroder Japan Active Value fund and Franklin Templeton Biotech Discovery fund has facilitated this move. The biotech fund had risen strongly during the market bounce in October and November, and the manager feels now is a good time to refocus the portfolio.
The Baring Eastern Europe fund has been added to the Templeton Eastern European fund which has been retained in this thematic portion. The manager sees Eastern Europe as a good region for investment, with particular attribution coming from the current movement towards convergence.
The US make-up has altered over January too. Schroder US Small Cap has been sold and replaced by the Wanger US Smaller Companies fund. Smaller companies have outperformed blue chip stocks over the past year, and this fund, managed by Robert Mohn, has comfortably outperformed the Russell 2000 (its benchmark) over the last year. The fund invests in 40-50 stocks with objective to find companies which the firms analysts believe will grow by 20% a year. This new addition now sits very well in the US portion as it complements the Deutsche fund which has a Micro-cap focus.
Within the UK portion, Invesco UK Aggressive has been sold to accommodate Gartmore UK Focus. Gartmore is a stock specific fund with a manager that looks to take more aggressive positions than the Invesco fund. The flexibility of the Gartmore fund has enabled it to perform admirably on the downside, beating the FTSE All-Share over the last year.
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Old Mutual Elite US$ Aggressive comment - Dec 02
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Thursday, 13 February 2003
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Fund Manager Comment
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| Global equities declined in December, ending two consecutive rises in October and November, which overall left them in positive territory for Q4 2002. The Aggressive portfolio rose by 6.26% over the quarter and outperformed its benchmark over December.
Within the emerging markets element of the portfolio, good relative performance has been seen from Colonial First State Asia Pacific and BDT Global. Both funds comfortably outperformed their respective benchmarks throughout 2002.
The European holdings performed solidly over December, with particularly good performance coming from Fidelity European and Odey Continental Europe.
A new fund was added into the UK exposure of the fund during Q4. DWS UK Growth has a team of six senior fund managers and, in keeping with the current approach within Elite, is a stock picking fund. The team, headed by Charles Curtis, takes into account the company's competitive position, quality of management and long-term cash flow return on investment before making stock decisions. This fund has a strong track record and has outperformed its benchmark, the FTSE 350, throughout both bull and bear markets.
Japan had a further poor month in December with the Nikkei falling almost 7%. All Japanese holdings within the portfolio beat the Nikkei with most notable performance coming from Schroder Japan Active Value and Fidelity Japan Special Situations.
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Old Mutual Elite US$ Aggressive comment - Nov 02
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Thursday, 19 December 2002
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Fund Manager Comment
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| With global equity markets advancing for the second consecutive month, the Aggressive portfolio, being very well positioned to capture upside, performed admirably. The portfolio outperformed the benchmark by more than 50 basis points throughout November.
A new fund has been added into the UK exposure of the fund. DWS UK Growth has a team of six senior fund managers and, in keeping with the current approach within Elite, is a stock picking fund. The team, headed by Charles Curtis, takes into account the company's competitive position, quality of management and long-term cash flow return on investment before making stock decisions. This fund has a strong track record and has outperformed its benchmark, the FTSE 350, throughout both bull and bear markets.
No fund was completely sold to make room for DWS, however the holding of Credit Suisse Income was reduced. This fund was very defensively positioned so around half the Credit Suisse exposure has been used to buy the DWS UK Growth fund which is less defensively positioned, therefore more likely to capture the upside currently being witnessed in equity markets.
The thematic element of the portfolio had a good month too with the Templeton Biotechnology fund attributing most upside.
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Old Mutual Elite US$ Aggressive comment - Oct 02
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Monday, 18 November 2002
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Fund Manager Comment
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| The MSCI World index of global equities posted strong positive returns in October, bouncing back well from a poor Q3. The Aggressive portfolio has performed very well of late outperforming the benchmark over 3, 6 and 12 months but it slipped behind the benchmark over one month.
While the markets were drifting downwards, the underlying managers were favouring the smaller cap stocks in their portfolios. However, with the rebound in equity markets it is the larger cap stocks which have made the better short term gains.
Particularly strong this month, on a regional basis, was performance from the US component within the portfolio. GAM American Focus, with its large cap bias, was a particularly good performer as the recent trend of large cap stocks outperforming smaller cap stocks continued.
Legg Mason too was a strong performer as the concentrated large cap nature of the fund provided good returns.
Schroder Japan Active has again performed well in a tough market. This fund invests in shares of Japanese companies which are undervalued relative to their profits growth outlook and has consistently remained ahead of the Nikkei Index.
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Old Mutual Elite US$ Aggressive comment - Sep 02
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Friday, 8 November 2002
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Fund Manager Comment
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| In a tough quarter for equities, the Aggressive portfolio comfortably outperformed it's benchmark, over the quarter and over one month. The MSCI World index fell by over 18% over the last 3 months whilst the Emerging Market Free index lost almost 17%.
Changes have been made to the portfolio in Q3 which have been key to maintaining outperformance. Within the thematic portion, Newton Oriental and Investec Hong Kong have been removed. These have been replaced by the Schroder Japan Active Value fund and the Templeton Biotech Discovery fund. The Schroders fund addition has been justified by consistent good performance and it is well ahead of its benchmark over the month. The Templeton fund aims to build on the strong growth potential of biotech firms.
Elsewhere, in the emerging markets segment of the portfolio, the Henderson Pacific Capital Growth fund has been sold in favour of Colonial First State Asia Pacific. This fund fits in well as it is a bottom up stockpicking fund which is less growth orientated than the Henderson fund. The manager, Angus Tulloch, has a strong reputation which has led to outstanding performance. He is less benchmark driven than many other managers but, with excellent risk controls and manager expertise in place, the fund has done well.
BDT Investment Management Global is also a new fund which has been added to increase exposure to emerging markets. The fund invests primarily in Asian equities, and is run with a flexible mandate. This allows the manager to switch into bonds or cash in order to lock in gains and protect the fund value if he is particularly bearish.
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Old Mutual Elite US$ Aggressive comment - Aug 02
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Tuesday, 17 September 2002
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Fund Manager Comment
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| Equities, as measured by the MSCI World index, were flat over August as investors retained a cautious view on the US economic recovery and fears of a war against Iraq heightened. The Aggressive portfolio has performed broadly in line with markets, posting slight positive returns of 0.17% for the month.
The thematic element of the portfolio which is the 'best ideas' component currently aims to capture growth in the Asian and Eastern European regions. The manager has made some changes to this portion of the portfolio in order to add value. He has sold out of Newton Oriental and Investec Hong Kong and bought into the Schroders Japan Active Value fund. The fund is first decile over all periods.
The thematic element of the portfolio was initially introduced, more specifically to add Asian market exposure, however, by the rationale of developed markets now starting to outperform emerging markets, the manager bought into the Templeton Biotech Discovery fund. Biotech firms have shown growth potential of 10 - 15% this year, making them attractive for investment.
The manager has moved the BDT Investment Management fund to the emerging market component of the portfolio as this fund invests primarily in Asian market equities. The fund is run with a flexible mandate, which allows the manager to switch into bonds or cash in order to lock in gains and protect the fund value if he is particularly bearish.
Overall, with company CEO's swearing on oath that their reports are accurate on 14 August not producing any significant shocks, added to investors' risk appetite increasing, the manager is looking at gradually increasing developed market exposure within the portfolio in order to allow for maximum upside potential.
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Old Mutual Elite US$ Aggressive comment - Jul 02
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Thursday, 29 August 2002
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Fund Manager Comment
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| The torrid time currently being experienced by global equity markets continued in July. Equities, as measured by the MSCI World index, fell by 8.51% over July as the fears of further corporate scandals seemed to dominate market sentiment. The Aggressive portfolio has performed broadly in line with markets, down by 8.65% for the month.
The manager has made some changes to the portfolio in order to add value. He has sold out of the more growth orientated Henderson Pacific fund and bought into the Colonial First State Asia Pacific fund.
Within the emerging market component of the portfolio, this Colonial First State fund fits in well as it is a bottom up stockpicking fund which is less growth orientated than the Henderson fund. The manager, Angus Tulloch, has a strong reputation, which has led to outstanding performance. He is less benchmark driven than many other managers but, with excellent risk controls and manager expertise in place, the fund has done well. The fund is second decile over one month, one and two years, whilst being top decile over three months and three years.
The thematic element of the portfolio has been added to over the month, more specifically to add Asian market exposure. Asian markets have always allowed for some corporate scandal whereas, at the moment, it is a novelty for the US and Europe, and hence Asian markets are looking more attractive. A new fund has been introduced by the name of BDT Investment Management, which invests primarily in Asian market equities. The fund is run with a flexible mandate which allows the manager to switch into bonds or cash in order to lock in gains and protect the fund value if he is particularly bearish.
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Old Mutual Elite US$ Aggressive comment - Jun 02
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Friday, 26 July 2002
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Fund Manager Comment
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| The Aggressive portfolio has outperformed the benchmark throughout the quarter. Positive attribution has come from having exposure to the right areas of emerging markets and also from the quality stockpicking abilities of the manager. The thematic element of the portfolio has recently become a 'best ideas' component which currently aims to capture growth in the Asian and Eastern European regions.
John Muresianu, the manager of the Fidelity American fund retired in June, to spend time managing his own investments. This fund was a particularly strong performer and was in positive territory year to date, highlighting the quality of his stockpicking ability. Within Elite, the manager has decided to lock in the gains made from this by selling and switching to Govett US Opportunities which is a fund run in a similar manner to Fidelity American.
The Govett US Opportunities fund has a 5 star rating from Standard and Poors so is a more than competent substitute. The fund, managed by Gil Knight, is 1st quartile over 1 year, 3 years and since launch, endorsing the management style of the manager.
Ashton Bradbury, who manages the Old Mutual UK Smaller Companies fund, was named overall fund manager of the year by Citywire Funds Inside in May. He has already established an outstanding reputation as a stockpicker and now he has received this third party endorsement to back this up. The fund has outperformed the FTSE All Share comfortably over Q2.
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Old Mutual Elite US$ Aggressive comment - May 02
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Friday, 26 July 2002
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Fund Manager Comment
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| The Aggressive portfolio continues to outperform the benchmark over the longer term, however this month saw slight underperformance. Global equities finished the month marginally lower and this was reflected in the fund.
There have been no changes this month to the underlying funds, merely some rebalancing has taken place. The previous marginal overweight to the UK has now been brought back into line. Within the UK portion, the Invesco UK Aggressive fund has been a good performer since its recent introduction. The underlying manager has a strong track record and his mandate does not restrict him to a specific benchmark. This makes a good satellite holding to the portfolio.
The addition of the 'best ideas' component recently brought into the Aggressive portfolio has provided incremental returns. One notable performance was from Aberdeen China Opportunities.
A key core satellite holding is maintained with the Fidelity American fund. This has been a strong performer year to date advancing 11% in a broadly flat US equity market. This highlights the merit of stockpicking funds in the current climate.
Ashton Bradbury, who manages the Old Mutual UK smaller companies fund, was named overall fund manager of the year by Citywire Funds Inside in May. He has already established an outstanding reputation as a stockpicker and now he has received the third party endorsement to back this up. The fund was up over 1%, whilst the UK equity market was negative over the month.
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Old Mutual Elite US$ Aggressive comment - April 02
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Monday, 24 June 2002
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Fund Manager Comment
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| The performance in April 2002 was driven by two factors, the overweight exposure to the right parts of emerging markets, through both the emerging markets allocation and the thematic ("best ideas") component, and secondly attribution from good stock picks. Stock pickers are the predominant style of the managers employed in the remainder of the portfolio.
The benchmark was negative for the first time since September 2001 although the fund avoided the same path and posted a positive absolute return. The portfolio outperformed the benchmark by over 3% this month and remains ahead over three months, six months and one year. The portfolio is marginally behind the benchmark since launch.
The enhancement to the fund in the past few months to structure a tenth of the portfolio to be Gerrard's "best ideas" has already paid dividends. The addition of the Newton Oriental and Aberdeen China Opportunities funds as holdings to capture the stockmarket gain caused by the recovery of exports in the Asia Pacific region has proved well based. Data from Japan, Korea and Taiwan showed export orders are growing and the region bucked trends in the US, Europe and UK by rising for another month.
The number of fund holdings is greater than the Growth Portfolios but the underlying holdings, other than "best ideas," are managers who are less benchmark conscious and run dynamic funds where holdings are based on stock conviction rather than weightings against a benchmark.
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Old Mutual Elite US$ Aggressive comment - March 02
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Thursday, 16 May 2002
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Fund Manager Comment
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| The MSCI World index was flat over the quarter despite a 4% rise in March 2002, but a strong showing from Emerging Markets pushed the Aggressive portfolio further into positive territory for the three month period.
Part of the process of restructuring the Elite Aggressive fund to be a more focused fund has seen some changes to the US component this quarter. The Framlington Nasdaq and Framlington American funds have been sold and replaced with the Fidelity American, GAM Star America and Legg Mason funds. These changes enhance the pragmatic, blend style managers who are less tied by benchmark constraints and invest in stocks with conviction.
The Aggressive portfolio strategy has been enhanced to have a greater focus on "best ideas." As a result the global component that has historically been allocated to global thematic funds will now reflect Gerrard's best ideas. This resulted in Goldman Sachs Technology and Sarasin Equisar funds being sold. The "best idea" at present is emerging markets and as such the manager has included Newton Oriental, Aberdeen China Opportunities and Templeton Eastern Europe.
Emerging Markets are seen as a broad growth area because of a number of headline developments. Eastern Europe is forecast to be a growth area as it converges with Western Europe. Asia is seen as an early beneficiary of the return to growth in the USA as the region is heavily dependant on exports and technology related commodities. Furthermore, structural reforms made in the past year, and demanded by investors following the bear market, has meant organic developments have encouraged the local stockmarket forward.
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