Fundsmith Equity is best-selling in closing stage of the ISA season
Posted by Adrian Lowcock in Press releases category on 17 Apr 19
Fundsmith Equity was the biggest selling fund on the Willis Owen investment platform in the last month of the 2018/19 ISA season
1, followed by the LF Lindsell Train UK Equity, Artemis Income, Aberdeen Emerging Markets Equity and Threadneedle UK Equity Income.
Asia and Emerging markets funds were also popular with investors, while the US didn’t feature at all in the top 20, and Japan only once (Schroder Tokyo).
Adrian Lowcock, Head of Personal Investments at Willis Owen, commented: “Income and especially equity income were popular generally in the last ISA season with our customers, which we would expect as interest rates remain low and many investors still need an income to pay the bills.”
“Terry Smith’s Fundsmith was by far the most popular fund while investors preferred Nick Train’s UK fund rather than his global vehicle, which was eleventh in our rankings.
“Japan only appeared once in the top 20, although valuations on its stock market are looking quite attractive. Japan has historically been a market investors avoided as it suffered decades of underperformance due to deflationary pressures and an ageing population, however its future performance which matters now.”
“Our list is also predominantly comprised of active funds with just one tracker. Whilst trackersare cheap and give investors diversification they also expose them to the good, the bad and the expensive areas of the market, whereas active managers are better able to protect investors money in volatile markets.”
Best-selling funds on Willis Owen platform
| Fund |
Ranking |
| Fundsmith Equity |
1 |
| LF Lindsell Train UK Equity |
2 |
| Artemis Income |
3 |
| Aberdeen Emerging Markets Equity |
4 |
| Threadneedle UK Equity Income |
5 |
| JOHCM UK Equity Income |
6 |
| Schroder Income Maximiser |
7 |
| Jupiter European |
8 |
| First State Asia Focus |
9 |
| Schroder Asian Income Maximiser |
10 |
| Lindsell Train Global Equity |
11 |
| Schroder Asian Alpha Plus |
12 |
| Rathbone Global Opps |
13 |
| L&G International Index Trust |
14 |
| Invesco Monthly Income Plus UK |
15 |
| Royal London Corporate Bond |
16 |
| Artemis Strategic Bond |
17 |
| Schroder Tokyo |
18 |
| Artemis High Income |
19 |
| Franklin UK Equity Income |
20 |
Willis Owen’s star manager picks
Man GLG UK Income - This fund offers a highly disciplined, value-focused approach to investing in UK equity income.
Henry Dixon's proven value approach underpins this fund. He targets companies trading below the team’s estimate of the company’s asset value and those where the company’s profit stream is being undervalued relative to the cost of capital, with the additional caveat of a dividend yield of at least that of the market. The fund also targets companies with net cash balance sheets and strong free cash flows, which can lead to positive dividend surprises. As well as the focus on valuation, the process also seeks to steer the manager towards elements of quality and positive earnings momentum. Finally the fund has a greater focus on mid-sized companies.
Lindsell Train Global Growth – Nick Train believe that a highly concentrated portfolio of high-quality, cash-generative, strong and easily understood business franchises will outperform the market and reduce volatility over the long term. Accordingly, they use strict criteria aligned to this belief to significantly filter the universe. A key strength lies in the managers' deep understanding of company strategies and their ability to see through the noise and buy stocks that are best placed to defend their business over the long term. The stock-specific and unconstrained nature of the approach results in significant differences to the benchmark. The managers' unwavering adherence to their investment philosophy and strong stock selection have resulted in considerable long-term success.
Man GLG Japan CoreAlpha - Stephen Harker is a contrarian investor, looking for companies out of favour with investors. Focusing on the largest 300 listed companies in Japan, he looks for those companies that appear to be undervalued when compared with rivals. He uses valuations measures including Price to Book, Dividend Yield and Price Earnings ratio to identify companies. He selects companies with strong fundamentals and management where he believes there is the opportunity for a turnaround. Harker uses a rigorous, repeatable process that draws on the team's extensive knowledge of the Japanese market. With the clear focus on value, long-term investment horizon and no consideration for the benchmark the portfolio will differ from the index
1Based on gross sales of funds on the Willis Owen platform between 1 March to 5 April 2019
