With the ISA deadline fast approaching, investors are rapidly running out of time to research funds and invest their full £15,240 ISA allowance for 2016/17 before the 5 April deadline.
Having previously looked at the funds for cautious, balanced and aggressive investors, as well as those with an income bias, these are generally better held as part of a portfolio.
However, with just a few weeks left and many potential investors running out of time to research funds, FE Trustnet asks the experts which ‘one-stop-shop’ fund they would recommend for these types of investor.
Ryan Hughes, head of fund selection at AJ Bell, suggests Fidelity Index World which has also previously been suggested by Informed Choice’s Martin Bamford as a suitable fund for aggressive investors.
“For investors looking for equity exposure but who haven’t got the time to research individual markets, a one-stop-shop global equities fund is a good option,” Hughes said.
“An easy way to achieve this is a low-cost tracker fund, such as the Fidelity Index World fund, which tracks the performance of the MSCI World index.”
Investec Cautious Managed
Gill Hutchison, head of investment research at The Adviser Centre, suggests the £2.bn Investec Cautious Managed run by Alastair Mundy.
The fund has been a top quartile performer over one and 10 years but has struggled over three and five years, sitting in the bottom quartile.
However, over the last decade the multi-asset fund – which invests in a blend of fixed income, equities and cash – has returned 73.37 per cent, more than both its CPI benchmark and the average IA Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares sector fund.
Performance of fund vs sector and benchmark over 10yrs
Source: FE Analytics
“Investec Cautious Managed invests in a wide range of asset classes, with a view to delivering a return that beats inflation over time,” Hutchison said.
“The investment methodology is deeply contrarian in nature and the fund manager, Alastair Mundy, has honed his value credentials over time and through many investment cycles.
“In terms of portfolio construction, the starting point is the manager’s assessment of value in equity markets. This determines the equity allocation here, which can be between around 35 per cent and 60 per cent.
“The remainder of the portfolio complements the equity portion, with a view to dampening portfolio volatility. Complementary assets are typically fixed income and cash, as well as holdings such as precious metals and currencies.
The manager’s clear value style can result in a differentiated outcome compared to many peers, however, and is something potential investors should be aware of.
“Nonetheless, Investec Cautious Managed makes for an interesting long-term investment and, given the manager’s distinctive approach, it may also represent a useful diversifying holding for an investor’s portfolio,” she added.
The fund has a clean, ongoing charges figure (OCF) of 0.85 per cent.
Artemis Strategic Assets
Meanwhile, Ben Yearsley, investment director at Wealth Club, says investors should consider Artemis Strategic Assets for a one-stop-shop solution.
“Artemis strategic assets is my lazy person fund. Managed by boffin Will Littlewood, it aims to best the FTSE and cash over rolling three year periods,” he said.
The £829m fund has been a bottom quartile performer over three and five years in the IA Flexible Investment sector and has not beaten the sector average or FTSE All Share over either of these periods.
Performance of fund vs sector and benchmark over 5yrs
Source: FE Analytics
However, the fund has an eye to the downside and looks to protect investor’s capital as well as make positive returns.
“Beating cash is important as that means Mr Littlewood always has one eye on the downside. This is a multi-asset that has equities, currencies, commodities- in fact virtually anything,” Yearsley said.
“It can and does go short as well - there has been a long term short of a JGBs in the portfolio, which to be fair hasn't worked thus far.
“At the heart though is an equity portfolio, which is where Will made his name. I've had this as a core holding in my portfolio since launch.”
The fund has an OCF of 0.86 per cent.
RIT Capital Partners
Away from the open-ended space, Jason Hollands, managing director at Tilney Group, suggests the £2.9bn RIT Capital Partners.
The five crown-rated investment trust has been a top quartile performer in the IT Flexible Investment sector over three, five and 10 years, returning 124.26 per cent over the last decade.
“Investors looking for a “one stop shop” approach should take a look at RIT Capital Partner,” Hollands said.
“This highly diversified investment trust, chaired by Lord Rothschild, and in which the Rothschild family hold significant assets invests across both global stock markets and asset classes such as private equity, property and commodities, outsourcing parts of the portfolio to leading managers, including hedge funds with the goal of delivering long term capital growth but also preserving capital.”
The fund has 36 per cent in equities, 24 per cent in absolute return and credit and 20 per cent in hedge funds with its most exposure to the US (30 per cent).
The trust has an OCF of 1.34 per cent, according to the latest data from the AIC.
HSBC Global Strategy Balanced Portfolio
Finally, Jason Broomer, head of investment at Square Mile recommends the £75m HSBC Global Strategy Balanced Portfolio.
The five crown-rated fund is run by Jim Dunsford and FE Alpha Manager Beverley Jane Davies and over the last half-decade has returned 55.77 per cent.
Performance of fund vs sector and benchmark over 5yrs
Source: FE Analytics
“This fund offers a low-cost way to access a multi-asset portfolio, and with an OCF of 0.19 per cent we think it represents very good value for money,” Broomer said.
“The fund is aimed at investors with a balanced level of risk and targets a volatility of around half of equities.
“Whilst the portfolio will invest heavily in passive investment strategies, the asset allocation is actively managed, attempting to maximise the risk and return potential over the longer term, whilst also seeking out market opportunities over the short term.”
To gain the best value for investors, the fund uses HSBC index tracking funds where available, and a selection of other products from other handpicked investment managers.
The fund, which sits in the IA Unclassified sector is 30 per cent weighted to the HSBC Corporate Bond fund and 27.9 per cent invested in HSBC American index.
It has 9 per cent in HSBC European Index, 6.3 per cent in iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets and 6.1 per cent invested in the HSBC Japan index with 4 per cent held in cash.