For the avoidance of any doubt I should probably mention here that we use actives and passives as well as investment trusts within our client portfolios. As a boutique business owner I have never been afraid to challenge larger businesses and their accepted norms and cost transparency is a particularly well-beaten drum here (the team know I have many!).
Further, while I would be at the front of the queue to complain about the hundreds of ‘me too’ and ‘if only’ funds which languish in the sector tables charging alpha performance fees I am also more than willing to see through the current rhetoric and selective self-interest to separate cost from value.
To illustrate I have chosen funds under due diligence moving into our portfolios and some longer- term holdings.
As part of our fund launch due diligence we’ve followed the Ardevora funds for the past two quarters and have been quietly impressed with both the long only and 150/50 offerings. In fact, the Ardevora UK Equity Fund which had its first anniversary on Valentine’s Day has delivered exceptional numbers in its first full year, returning 7.65% compared to 0.5% from the FTSE All-Share.
It also beat the sector average by 9% and was more than 4% ahead of the Cartesian Enhanced Alpha Fund, another decent performer and one of the more popular retail short extension vehicles. I accept this is a very short time-period but very strong performance all the same.
Over the longer term I note the Lindsell Train UK Equity Fund which has been in our portfolios for some time is up 85.90% over three years while the FTSE All-Share is down 56.90% and with greater volatility.
Investec UK Special Situations is up 62.16% over three years also with similar volatility to the UK All-Share.
I do, of course, recognise that I can be accused of picking the funds which illustrate my point but this has in my opinion long been the problem with the active versus passive debate – a selective use of data.
We prefer to come at this as a company which would prefer to choose funds based on suitability and performance rather than narrow dogma. At a time when charges seem to dominate every headline it is encouraging to see actively managed funds delivering what they say on the tin.
