Fund of the week: treat stocks as individuals
If you’re willing to take a bit more risk, then you can’t go far wrong with the Schroder European Alpha Plus Fund, says Darius McDermott, managing director of Chelsea Financial Services in the Daily Mail. It may look racy, but it is “one of the best stock-pickers in the region”.
Investing in around 60 different stocks across the continent, Leon Howard-Spinks’s fund has returned 101% over the past three years, against 92.7% for Europe excluding the UK. Switching about 20 of the fund’s holdings every year, the former Jupiter manager refuses to focus on which way the market might go, or even on one specific sector, when picking stocks. Instead, he looks at them on an individual basis and across a wide range of drivers. That means looking at everything from their geographical location to whether they have a growth or value bias. “The key is to account for all these factors to get momentum into your portfolios. Having the right companies does not necessarily mean following the index, as it is the contrarian stocks that ensure you beat your peers,” he tells the Daily Mail.
That may explain why the Edinburgh University graduate currently has a taste for financials, which are out of favour with the broader market. Top holdings include Société Génerale (2.4%), UBS (2.5%) and ING (2.8%). Just over 25% of the fund is invested in France, with 15% in Switzerland and just over 12.4% in Germany. “A consistently good manager for a consistently good fund. Leon has outperformed in the short term and the long term and as a result he is our highest-rated manager in Europe,” John Davey of BestInvest tells Money Marketing.
Contact www.schroders.com
Schroder European Alpha Plus top holdings
Name of holding, % of assets
ING Groep N.V, 2.8
Groupe Danone, 2.6
Deutsche Boerse AG, 2.6
UBS AG, 2.5
Essilor International, 2.4
Syngenta AG, 2.4
Société Génerale, 2.4
Neopost, 2.4
Vinci, 2.3
