Hargreaves Lansdown has promoted analyst Gareth Campbell to fund manager on the HL Select Global Growth fund to work alongside existing manager Steve Clayton.
Campbell is a US equity specialist who joined the HL Select team in mid-2018 as a global equity analyst. He previously spent seven years at the Universities Superannuation Scheme, one of the UK’s largest pension funds, as a portfolio manager covering North American equities.
More than half (57.8%) of the £575m fund’s assets are invested in US stocks.
Campbell also specialises in the healthcare sector and focuses on identifying companies with high quality cash conversion.
In a press release, HL said the fund’s strategy is “based on investing in high quality global businesses capable of creating a virtuous circle of customer loyalty, pricing power and financial strength, allowing them to deliver consistent growth over the longer term”.
The fund was launched in May 2019 and since then has has delivered a 46% total return, compared with the FTSE World index’s 25.6% and its IA sector average of 27.5%, according to FE Fundinfo.
Fund performance versus benchmark and sector (%)
| 1m | 3m | 6m | 1yr | |
| HL Select Global Growth A Acc in GB | 2.67 | 10.01 | 17.96 | 31.21 |
| FTSE World GTR in GB | 2.34 | 8.12 | 15.31 | 13.68 |
| IA Global TR in GB | 3.08 | 9.09 | 16.88 | 16.25 |
Source: FE Fundinfo, total return
Its three largest holdings are Visa, GoDaddy and Microsoft and its top sector weightings are software and computer services (19.8%), medical equipment (14.4%) and industrial support services (12.6%).
Clayton, who manages the Hargreaves Lansdown Select funds, said Campbell had played a “pivotal role” in the fund’s success to date.
He added: “Gareth’s talent for stock-picking augurs well for the fund’s future, backed up by his thoughtful approach to portfolio construction. We knew that we had found a hugely talented investor when we first met Gareth as we set about building the team to manage the HL Select Global Growth fund.”
