The performance of the fund has been very consistent. Of 143 funds in the sector, the McInroy & Wood Balanced portfolio is in the top three over one, three and five-year periods. According to data from FE Analytics the fund has returned 49 per cent over five years – around five times as much as the average Balanced Managed fund.
Performance of fund vs sector over 5-yrs
Source: FE Analytics
The fund is also among one of the least volatile of its kind. Over a ten year period, only six vehicles – including McInroy & Wood Income – have been less volatile, and only five have a lower maximum loss.
FE Alpha Manager Victor Wood invests the fund’s £199m assets under management (AUM) in a mixture of equity and fixed interest securities all over the world. The fund has an equal focus on both capital growth and income.
The fund is intended for small, personal investors who do not have the time or expertise to manage a diverse portfolio themselves.
It has seen substantial inflows over the past year and Wood has been using these to buy up new opportunities in the global market.
“New holdings in developing markets were purchased in Brazilian companies Amil and Natura Cosmeticos and India based Marico,” he said.
“Two German stocks; Fresenius Medical Care and Fuchs Petrolub, were also added to the portfolio, as were Kerry – an Irish company, ARB from Australia and in Japan, Sysmex. The positions in Reed Elsevier, Dana Petroleum, National Grid, Neopost, Holidaybreak, Cathay Financial, AT&T and Kamigumi were all sold.”
In the fixed-interest space, Wood has been making moves into debt securities in comparatively safe markets in Northern Europe.
“Within the bond allocation in the portfolio, the short-dated French public sector issue was sold, and holdings in UK index-linked gilts and US inflation-protected bonds were reduced,” Wood said. “The proceeds were reinvested into three floating-rate notes and in prime quality loans denominated in Swiss francs and Norwegian kroner.”