Top ranked funds Newcomers
Only 12 funds in the sector
qualify as newcomers, and
none of the top ten have
particularly delivered performance
worth writing
home about.
The best performer,
returning -23.39% over one
year to 27 Oct 2008 versus
the sector average of
-45.64%, is AC Invest Multistrategy
Two Segments.
The fund is managed by
white labelling specialists
Alceda Fund Management.
Four funds of funds
from Fürst Fugger
Privatbank appear in the
table following their launch
in October 2007: FFPB
Wert, FFPB Variabel, FFPB
Dynamik and FFPB Fokus.
FFPB Variabel (Variable)
invests in a range of regional
equity funds, with the
largest positions as at 30
Sept, 2008 in M&G
American and Gartmore
Continental European.
FPB Fokus (Focus)
invests in themed funds,
with significant holdings in
the LBBW Global Warming,
Clariden Leu Infrastructure,
Pictet Water and JPM Global
Natural Resources funds.
FFPB Dynamik (Dynamic)
holds funds including
Fortis L OBAM Equity
World, Gartmore Continental
European and ISI
Far East Equity.
FFPB Wert’s (Value) two
largest positions are M&G
Global Basics and DJE
Dividende und Substanz.
Global Family Equity is
managed by Luxembourgbased
LRI Invest on behalf
of German family office
and asset management firm
Focam. The fund aims to
generate long-term value
through direct and indirect
equity investments.
Three Investec funds
appear in the table as a
result of the firm moving
its domicile from Guernsey
to Luxembourg. This was
done, says Garland, for
cross-border distribution
purposes.
“Guernsey is an important
hub for us but you
cannot distribute across
Europe. You cannot passport
Guernsey funds in, for
example, Spain or Italy.”
Investec’s core global
equity offering is the
Investec GSF Global Equity
Fund. It breaks up the
world into six ‘super sectors’,
says Garland, and
holds 90 to 100 stocks. The
Global Dynamic Fund has
few constraints, and a more
concentrated portfolio of
50 to 70 stocks.
The Global Strategic
top 3 newcomers vs index
% -20
10
-10
-30
-40
M’star IM Equity Global
-50
Nov ’07 Jan ’08 Mar
May
Jul
Sep
1 Nov ’07 – 27 Oct ’08. Source: Morningstar
0
FFPB Variabel
top 10 funds with less than a 3-year but at least a 1-year track record
26 oct ’07 – 27 oct ’08. Bid to bid, $, gross income, no cap. Source: Morningstar
AC Invest Multistrategy Two Segments
FFPB Wert
1-year 1-year 1-year 1-year 1-year 1-year Launch Fund Dom
% chg Alpha Beta R² Sharpe volatility date size (£m)
aC Invest Multistrategy Two Segments -23.39 0.37 0.45 0.48 -0.45 3.32 23 oct ’07 42.02 lux’bourg
FFPB Variabel -38.6 0.17 0.87 0.9 -0.66 4.63 24 oct ’07 73.05 lux’bourg
FFPB wert -39.58 0.42 0.88 0.91 -0.6 4.67 24 oct ’07 63.06 lux’bourg
FFPB Fokus -45.04 0.51 1.04 0.87 -0.58 5.62 24 oct ’07 59.5 lux’bourg
FFPB dynamik -45.57 0.08 1.09 0.88 -0.66 5.88 24 oct ’07 44.22 lux’bourg
ToP Concept – Value -46.91 -0.23 0.99 0.94 -0.74 5.18 24 oct ’07 27.36 lux’bourg
Global Family equity -47.65 0.02 0.92 0.82 -0.65 5.12 22 oct ’07 12.61 lux’bourg
Investec GSF Global Growth a Inc $ -51.24 -0.66 1.01 0.86 -0.79 5.5 1 Jul ’08 43.84 lux’bourg
Investec GSF Global dynamic a acc $ -51.57 -0.7 1 0.85 -0.79 5.51 1 Jul ’08 290.64 lux’bourg
Investec GSF Global equity a Inc $ -51.83 -0.41 1.09 0.96 -0.77 5.63 1 Jul ’08 459.69 lux’bourg
Fund selector’s choice
Jacqueline Aldhous, head of offshore research,
Old Broad Street Research
Among the best performing newcomers, which include several fixed
income and multi-asset vehicles, we would highlight the Investec
funds which appear in this space following the change in their fund
domicile from Guernsey to Luxembourg in July 2008. The funds have
been running for considerably longer and have built up an excellent
track record.
The Investec GSF Global Equity Fund is run by the group’s
Global 4 Factor team whose quant-driven, bottom-up approach
has proved effective across a range of market conditions. The
model successfully signalled an early overweight in energy and
underweight in financials and also worked well in the emerging
markets space; following the strong performance of the asset class
in 2007, the model called for a significant cut in the fund’s exposure
to the asset class, which now accounts for only 10% of assets.
An additional fund worth mentioning, although it has been
running for several years, is the Gartmore Sicav Global Focus
Fund run by Neil Rogan. This high-conviction fund of 30 to 40 names
is managed in an unconstrained fashion and has proved itself across
different market environments.
Rogan has demonstrated his excellent stock-picking credentials,
in terms of identifying attractive ideas at an early stage of their
growth phase and companies with the ability to surprise on growth,
and his two-pronged approach to portfolio construction, which
combines longer-term strategic positions with short-term tactical
holdings, has worked well. Recent performance has been boosted
by the manager having neutralised his overweight in energy and
underweight in financials.
Equity Fund adopts a more
thematic approach, looking
for firms going through
December 2008 [www.international-adviser.com] INTerNATIONAL ADVISer
Nov
Fund selector Global equity
change and playing themes
such as outsourcing and
infrastructure.
top 10 newcomers – 1-year risk and return
Return (%)
-20
-30
-40
-50
Investec GSF Glbl Eq A Inc $ Investec GSF
-60
Investec GSF Glbl Dyn A Acc $
Glbl Gwth A Inc $
3
4 5 6
Standard deviation (%)
27 Oct ’05 – 3 Nov ’08. Bid to bid, $, gross income, no cap
Source: Morningstar
AC Invest Multistrat
Two Segments FFPB Variabel
Top Concept – Value
FFPB Wert
Global Family Equity
FFPB Fokus
FFPB Dynamik
Sector avg
23
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