Investment Update. Fund Managers views.

By Rachael Efetha, Chartered Financial Planner based in Bedford.

Carl Stephenson and I represented Anstee & Co at the Architas Investment Conference last week where we spent two days with some of the top fund managers and financial services influencers.

Architas is a Multi-Manager firm. This means that they decide on the overall asset allocation of the funds and then find the best fund managers for each particular sector. In choosing a fund manager to look after your money, they use quantitative analysis to rank funds, focussing not only on performance but also how the fund performs when there is a market downturn. From this, they select a short list for qualitative analysis.

In 2017 they had over 1,000 meetings with fund managers as part of the research process and due diligence. They review each fund at least twice a year and if the rating declines it goes back to the fund approval committee.

Who else was at the Investment Conference?

We heard from Chris Morris, an economist at Amundi who concluded that global growth is good at the moment.

JP Morgans Emerging Markets Income Trust manager told us that the Emerging Markets are growing twice as fast as developed markets. This due to their investments in infrastructure.

Majedie UK Equity fund’s Manager, James de Upagh, echoed the sentiment that growth around the world is strong but felt we are positioned for choppier times. He told us that they are nervous about UK prospects, Brexit is a big distraction which could damage company earnings.

Nathan Sweeney from the AB Concentrated Growth Fund (a US fund containing just 20 stocks) said that the US market is very expensive and is expecting interest rate rises in the US in 2018.

Wei Li from Black Rock felt ‘exuberant’ about markets.

Richard Buxton, from Old Mutual, one of the most respected UK fund managers, thought that the economic situation was good but with markets having gone up for eight years in a row, he would rather have a 10% correction in the next four months than it continues going up and then halve.

Gary Kirk of TwentyFour can’t see UK interest rates doing anything before Brexit. He said that the Bank of England is more interested in controlling inflation.

So where does this leave you, the investor?

After reading my rather condensed version of two days of investment talks, where should you invest? Our answer is the same as it was before attending the conference – leave it to the professionals to decide.

At Anstee & Co, we are Financial Designers. We help you plan for the future by advising you on how much you need to invest to achieve your goals. Then we look at whether you should be using pensions, bonds, ISAs, setting up trusts. We are not investment professionals and don’t have time for 1,000 fund manager meetings, or the expert knowledge to know whether we should be overweight in Emerging Markets and underweight in the UK. That is why we use Multi-Manager solutions like Architas for our clients.

Why not contact us today to see how we can help you. The initial meeting is free.