22
Fund selector thematic
Top ranked funds Assets under management
top 10 thematic funds by assets under management
3-year 3-year 3-year 3-year 3-year 3-year M’star Fund Dom
% chg Alpha Beta R² Sharpe volatility Ratings size (£m)
BGF World Gold a2 $ 24.98 1.92 1.02 0.26 12.37 0.04 HHHH 4,005.96 Lux’bourg
BGF New energy a2 $ -10.87 0.87 1.43 0.79 9.86 -0.06 HH 2,103.16 Lux’bourg
BGF World energy a2 $ -9.26 0.43 1.05 0.58 8.49 -0.08 HHHH 1,907.44 Lux’bourg
pF (Lux) Water p acc -5.73 0.23 0.89 0.91 5.74 -0.1 HHHHH 1,819.69 Lux’bourg
pF (Lux) Biotech p Cap 13.33 0.57 0.53 0.29 6.08 -0.01 HHHHH 1,025.08 Lux’bourg
SaM Sustainable Water (€) B -14.24 0.19 1.11 0.9 7.18 -0.12 HHH 750.39 Lux’bourg
pioneer Funds Global ecology a € Nd -7.52 0.52 1.17 0.9 7.52 -0.07 HHHH 698.12 Lux’bourg
MS INVF Global Brands a $ -7.32 0.15 0.77 0.87 5.02 -0.11 HHH 605.22 Lux’bourg
Clariden Leu energy equity B -10.47 0.71 1.31 0.69 9.67 -0.06 HHH 507.06 Guernsey
Investec GSF Global energy a Inc $ 2.72 0.91 1.21 0.68 8.97 -0.03 HHHHH 485.71 Lux’bourg
19 Jun ’06 – 22 Jun ’09. Bid to bid, $, gross income, no cap. Source: Morningstar
BlackRock Global Funds
holds a dominant position
in terms of scale with its
commodities funds taking
the top three places.
In March, the firm suffered
the loss of influential
Fund selector’s choice
John Husselbee, chief executive,
North Investment Partners
The table of the largest thematic funds is dominated by commodity
funds, gold the largest and four energy funds of significant size. The
longer-term bear market for equities where we have seen price/
earnings fall and yields rise since the tech bubble burst has forced
investors into a more diversified approach. In doing so, a multi-asset
approach, favoured and popularised by the large US endowments,
has become commonplace in the market.
The mutual fund industry has responded to this new and growing
demand for asset classes and sectors that produce similar returns to
equities but in a low correlated manner. Investec GSF Global Energy
Fund has been established for sometime and allows the investor
access to the energy sector via a basket of stocks and shares. The
active approach now has competition from exchange-traded funds
(ETFs) which offer a passive exposure to the oil and gas sector, as
well as the opportunity to gain from the physical commodities.
The oil price has seen a real roller-coaster ride in the past couple
of years. From the highs of last summer, the price fell some 80% to
trade around $30 at the beginning of the year. The long-term story of
increasing demand and falling supply is captured by the Investec Fund.
Medium term the success of this fund will be determined by the shape
and magnitude of the global economic recovery. This is a sector that,
along with industrials and materials, tends to perform well early cycle.
fund manager Graham
Birch who has taken a sabbatical
until the end of this
year. Co-manager Evy
Hambro has taken over
sole responsibility for the
World Gold Fund, while
also continuing to manage
World Mining.
New Energy is managed
by Robin Batchelor and
Poppy Allonby, who report
that the sector continues to
benefit from governmentmandated
growth targets,
which aim to combat climate
change and reduce
energy security issues.
S&P Fund Services’
Vaughan says he is not
overly concerned about
Birch’s absence, believing
that Hambro is more than
capable of taking the lead
on the range of funds, with
a big team to support him.
He adds: “We have a
high regard for these
BlackRock funds. They
have deliberately been
looking for strong balance
sheets and cash flows, a
top funds – 3-year risk and return
Return (%)
30
15
0
PF (Lux) Biotech P Cap
PF (Lux)
Water P Acc
Pioneer Fds Glbl
Ecology A € ND
BGF World Gold A2 $
Investec GSF Glbl Energy A Inc $
BGF World Energy A2 $
Clariden Leu Energy Equity B
-15
MS INVF Glbl
BGF New Energy A2 $
Brands A $
Sector average
-30 SAM Sustainable Water (€) B
3
7 11 15
Standard deviation (%)
To 22 Jun ’09. Bid to bid, $, gross inc, no cap. Source: Morningstar
theme which is true across
most managers in energyled
thematic funds.”
Pictet also carries a
strong presence in the top
five with its Water and
Biotech funds. The latter
was launched back in 1995,
with the management team
most recently focusing on
companies entering new
product cycles, primarily
mid and large caps.
The Sustainable Water
Fund from Sustainable Asset
Management specialises in
investing in firms providing
technology, products and
services relating to the
water value chain, such as
water distribution, management,
treatment and analysis
as well as irrigation.
This again is biased
towards the US; at the end
of June 2009 its largest
holding was in the Suez
Environnement, which
works in the drinking water,
waste-water treatment and
waste management fields. It
is listed in France.
top 3 funds by aum vs index
0
-20
MSCI World
-40
BGF World Energy A2 $
Jun ’06 Dec Jun ’07 Dec Jun ’08
19 Jun ’06 – 22 Jun ’09. Source: Morningstar
INtERNAtIONAL ADVIsER [www.international-adviser.com] August 2009
%
100
80
60
40
20
BGF New Energy A2 $
Pioneer Fund’s Global
Ecology is led by Christian
Zimmermann who, in the
past 18 months, has used
his mandate to go into more
defensive blue chip names
that fit with its socially
responsible criteria.
From his recent research
on the fund, Vaughan says
that Zimmermann draws
on a universe of around
1,500 firms that are screened
by two outside agencies.
Pioneer then does its own
screening to find companies
that have ecology
friendly products and also
screening on valuation
terms – it has in house
multi-factor quant models.
He adds: “This is not a
deep green fund and he
can play around with the
portfolio towards more
defensive stocks – he held
Proctor & Gamble and
Deutsche Telekom going
into the market turmoil, and
went out of solar names.
Zimmermann was ahead of
the game, so not churning
as much as others.”
Clariden Leu’s Energy
Equity Fund is more of a
traditional commodities
vehicle in that it invests
globally in oil and gas
companies. Given the collapse
of the commodities
boom last year, the fund
has understandably suffered
over the past 12
months. It has underperformed
its benchmark, the
MSCI World Energy NR,
over 12 months, mainly
due to stock selection
within the exploration and
production sector.
BGF World Gold A2 $
Dec
Jun ’09
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