Fund Awards 2008
WINNER
Tom Walker and David Forsyth
are the managers of the Martin
Currie North America Fund,
a fund that is often brought
up positively in conversation
with fund buyers looking at
the US.
The fund was launched just
over 25 years ago with Walker
inheriting it as lead manager
in April 2002.
Forsyth joined him in June
last year just as the bite of the
US sub-prime crisis was starting
to take full effect.
Both managers have a
high-conviction approach to
managing the fund, but this
does not mean they have
escaped the worst of the
fall-out in most US equity
US equities
Portfolio Adviser fund AwArds 2008 CAtegory winner
Martin Currie North America Fund
Martin Currie north America vs index
20
%
15
35
30
25
10
5
0
Jul ’05 Jan ’06
Source: Morningstar
fund facts
M’star UK Equity North America
Jul
Fund name: Martin Currie North America Managers: Tom Walker, David Forsyth
Launch date: 1 Sep ’83 Fund size: £453m Initial charge: 5%
Annual charge: 1.5% Min initial investment: £1,000 M’star rating: HHHHH
Annual discrete performance
%
20
15
10
-5
-10
-15
Martin Currie North America
Source: Morningstar
5
0
Quartile performance: 1 Jul ’05 – 1 Jul ’08
1st q’tile
2nd q’tile
3rd q’tile
4th q’tile
Source: Morningstar
funds in the past year.
To the end of October, the
Jan ’07
Q3
’05
Martin Currie
North America
Jul
Q4
’05
Q1
’06
Jan ’08
Q2
’06
Jul
Year ending Jun ’06
Year ending Jun ’07
Year ending Jun ’08
Q3
’06
December 2008 [www.portfolio-adviser.com] Portfolio ADViSer SUPPlemeNt
Q4
’06
M’star UK Equity North America
Q1
’07
Q2
’07
Q3
’07
fund lost 21% in 2008 (broadly
in line with the sector), compared
to a rise of 11% in 2007,
11% in 2006 and 17% the previous
year.
The recent fall-off in performance
is just that: recent.
Monies invested three years
ago, at the end of October
2005, would have lost 3%
to the end of October 2008,
grown by 6% to the end of
September and 27% to the end
of August.
The drivers for their stockpicking
are quality, value,
growth and change using a
mix of quantitative screening
followed by rigorous bottomup
analysis.
They run a concentrated,
high-conviction portfolio of 40
stocks with the maxim that if
they do not like a stock they
simply do not own it.
Q4
’07
Q1
’08
Q2
’08
“
In a sector where
consistency is a very
rare commodity, Tom
Walker has done an
excellent job over the
past few years with
this fund
”
Gary Potter, PA Fund Awards judge
Martin Currie’s Alan Burnett
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