Wealth Club has placed former Hargreaves Lansdown equity manager Charlie Huggins at the helm of its newly-launched Quality Shares Portfolio, a highly-concentrated discretionary portfolio of global shares.
Wealth Club stipulated that the stock selection process is driven by wherever Huggins might identify the best long-term growth opportunities across the UK, Europe, and North America. Made up of only 15 to 20 companies, the portfolio does not adhere to a benchmark, nor quarterly performance targets.
Huggins spent his last five years at Hargreaves Lansdown with leading management responsibility on the HL Select UK Growth Shares Fund, and was also co-manager on HL Select UK Income Shares.
He became head of equities at Wealth Club in April 2022.
Huggins said: “We’ve called this the Quality Shares Portfolio because that’s exactly what investors get. A small number of exceptional-quality shares chosen and managed by me, with a significant portion of my own money invested alongside theirs.”
Alex Davies, CEO and founder of Wealth Club called Huggins one of the most talented fund managers he had come across. The HL Select UK Growth fund generated a total return of 64.7% during Huggins’ five-year tenure as manager, versus 38.7% for the peer group, and it ranked 26th out of 209 funds in its sector.
“In an investment landscape dominated by closet trackers, often too focused on what’s trendy right now or what might make the fund look good at the next quarterly review, Charlie’s approach is a breath of fresh air, ” Davis said.
The portfolio can be held in an Isa and General Investment Account and is exclusively available through Wealth Club. The minimum investment is £10,000 and it will carry an annual management charge of 1%, and an annual custody charge of 0.25%.
