Brooks Macdonald investment director Isobel Gingell has found fund managers much more accessible via video meetings while working from home near the historic market town of Bury St Edmunds, but she thinks it’s vital to find time in the diary for a digital detox.
What have been your top and worst performing fund picks during the year?
One top performer has been the Morgan Stanley US Advantage fund, up c. 70% so far this year. Their strong stock selection and concentration in best ideas has certainly held them in good stead throughout this year.
We reduced our gilt position recently after taking a more defensive stance earlier in the year. With the near part of the gilt curve in negative territory we readjusted portfolios in the fixed interest space to take advantage of the enhanced value in credit.
What are your biggest over and underweights as vaccine news points towards a return to normality?
We have kept a high conviction in Asia ex Japan as we expect the new year to be defined as a transition from recession to recovery and improved optimism towards cyclical sectors that can benefit from an uptick in economic growth.
We have remained relatively underweight the UK versus the benchmarks for some time. Although the UK remains attractive value, we have had successful positions in themes such as technology, healthcare and more recently sustainable investments which are generally positioned outside of the UK market.
Best asset manager webinar of the year?
A lot of fund managers have become much more accessible via video meetings, and those are the ones that stand out to me as the most valuable. Having a more informal web meeting allows the flow of the call to be more conversational and makes it a more comfortable environment to ask questions, which often throws up lots of interesting viewpoints from the managers.
What parts of the lockdown have made your job easier?
Being disciplined to make sure I block out some time in my diary to have a digital detox – either taking the dog for a walk, exercising in the garden or reading a book – made a big difference to ensure I didn’t feel burnt out from looking at a screen and the same four walls every day.
And what parts of the lockdown have made your job more challenging?
My favourite part of the job is collaborating with colleagues and looking after my clients, which has become more challenging without being able to see them in person. Teams/Zoom has been a great tool to keep in touch, but I don’t think it can replace the ad-hoc conversations you would have in the office, or the more personal feeling of seeing clients and advisers in real life.
What would be your ideal lockdown Christmas present?
A home office. My boyfriend and I have adapted remarkably well to using the dining room table as our office space, but I’m sure we would both appreciate a bit more separation between work and home life.
What has been your most memorable Zoom moment of the year?
My friends and I got fed up with quizzes so we did a virtual treasure hunt instead (eg find something yellow, find something round, and one person chooses the best object.) It was good fun especially when one friend got her mum on the call as something old. She took it rather well.
Which haunt are you most looking forward to returning to once office working returns?
Our office in Bury St Edmunds is lucky to have a pretty and historic market town to call home. It will be nice to return to some of the lovely pubs and restaurants like the Angel which has been around since the 18th century, and Pea Porridge restaurant which uses lots of lovely Suffolk produce.
What lockdown movies, series or books would you recommend for people hunkering down during the holidays?
I joined a few colleagues at BM in a ‘Virtual Book Club’ where the first recommendation was Something to Live for by Richard Roper. It is more uplifting than it first sounds, and by the end encouraged me to reach out to friends who may have felt especially lonely given the current circumstances.
Isobel Gingell is an investment director at Brooks Macdonald
