Weekend Press Review: what are they hiding?

by | Apr 29, 2019

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The question of disclosure of fund holdings is on the radar for Jeff Prestridge this week. His article in the Financial Mail on Sunday is entitled “What are they hiding? Fund firms who refuse to reveal where your cash is”. It looks at different fund managers’ approaches to revealing the underlying holdings within their funds.  In summary, the article suggests that whilst some funds are embracing greater transparency when it comes to their individual holdings, others are less inclined to do so. The MoS carried out a survey of 25 fund groups and found that whilst some were publishing full details of holdings in the fund’s interim and year end accounts, others go further and disclose holdings more regularly. Some of those fund groups in this latter category, which the MoS refers to as ‘reformers’, are Liontrust, Guinness Asset Management and Franklin Templeton.

The Sanlam Multi Strategy fund is this week’s MoS fund in focus. The article describes it as a “Steady Eddie” fund due to its objectives of protecting the value of investors’ money as well as delivering a stable income – it has delivered a monthly income of 0.25% since August 2015. The MoS also describes the fund’s performance as ‘spectacularly dull’ but that this is something manager Mike Pinggera is entirely comfortable with, given its objectives. It’s our guess that this is a fund which is likely to appeal to the MoS’s DIY investors although given its defensive nature it is possible that it might generate a few questions for professional advisers from clients who might just like the sound of the steady approach just now.

‘Families fear for their cash as more trust and will-writing firms collapse’. This is the headline of the lead article in the Sunday Telegraph Money section. It’s a warning to readers to beware of unregulated firms which make false or misleading claims about how trusts can be used to create IHT or long term care fees savings. It is clearly of major concern to people who have set up trusts only to find that the firm acting for them is no longer trading. For professional advisers this is unlikely to come as news but it is a reminder about being vigilant and applying full scrutiny at the fact finding stage to ensure a full understanding of what clients may have actioned prior to coming to you for advice.

 
 

If your clients happen to be reading the Sunday Times Money section yesterday, there is a pretty good chance that if they don’t have Scottish Mortgage IT in their portfolio, they’ll want to know why!! Ok, we are jesting a little here but there is almost a full page of lead story dedicated to the 110 year old investment trust, its manager James Anderson and the investment approach he follows for the trust’s portfolio. Entitled “the hunt for the next big ker-ching!” the article certainly portrays the trust – and its manager- in an extremely positive light, whilst not avoiding the fact that it invests around a quarter of its portfolio in unlisted assets , or that Anderson has gained a reputation for picking tech stocks. In fact, it’s quite the contrary. The reasons and rationale behind these elements are covered in some detail.  It’s somewhat unusual to see such a strong endorsement of an investment trust so you might just want to read the article for yourself in case you get client queries.

Meanwhile, Ian Cowie is reminding readers of the value of international diversification within an investment portfolio. As always, he talks about his own portfolio and his own stock and fund selection decisions where country and currency diversification has always been a driving factor. He’s candid enough to talk about his so called investment “clangers” as well as the high flyers, but this week he is looking at the wealth management sector in the UK. His summary is that overall, the sector is rather overweight in UK equities in a move which he says might mean “investing too much in yesterday and not enough in tomorrow”. He proceeds with the argument that since the start of this century “most overseas funds and shares would have made your money grow more”. His call is for readers not to overlook the “cloud of uncertainty that hangs over the UK”. As he says, “We don’t need to bet everything on Britain but can also gain exposure to a world of opportunity overseas”. It’s an attitude which we are guessing will resonate with professional advisers who are well used to harnessing the benefits of a properly diversified portfolio for clients in order to reduce risk as well as maximise the opportunity for returns.

 

 
 

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