Fund Management Blog - 18th June 2010
Fund Management Blog - 22nd March 2010
Fund Management Blog - 29th January 2010

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DAVID STEPHENSON'S BLOG UPDATE - 18 JUNE 2010

Living in a New World

We are all going to have to adapt to a different world to what we had become accustomed to.  Effectively we have all benefited from a major increase in the value of assets which is unlikely to be repeated in our lifetimes.

Foremost of these is the value of your home.  We have all become use to house prices rising as a matter of course and many people have used these rises to extract capital by either remortgaging or by selling and downsizing.  Relative to earnings the UK residential property market is very overvalued.  Witness the difficulty first time buyers are having.  The only reason prices have not fallen is that Interest Rates are so low.  What do you think would happen if Interest Rates were to rise back to 5%, the pre crisis level?

However, there is some good news for homeowners with mortgages.  Interest Rates are not going up for a long time.  How long?  I think it could be a couple of years and even then rises are likely to be muted.  Some of the more bearish economists such as David Blanchflower and Roger Bootle warn they should not go up for 5 years! However, this news is not good for savers, especially those living off their deposit account interest.  They will have to look for alternatives.  The economy is only recovering slowly and is likely to face the hurdles of substantial tax rises, increasing unemployment and other spending cuts.  Interest Rates rises are not needed and would risk sending the country back into recession.  Japan has had this problem for fifteen years and rates have not got above 1%.

 
We will all now need to become savers.  First time buyers already have to put down significant deposits when they buy a home.  Everyone will also have to save more towards their retirement.  Companies will have all closed down their Final Salary Pension Schemes and soon the government will be forced to change the way they fund Public Sector Pensions.  This in turn is also going to take money out of the economy that in the past would have gone on consumer spending.

Of course there is an alternative option and that is, the government decides to suspend all spending cuts and tax rises and goes for growth, but that would be difficult to achieve with such poor government finances.  That would risk the return of inflation and the cost of borrowing rising.  Britain could become a new Greece or Argentina with the pound dropping on the foreign exchange market.

So the message is do not rely on what has worked for you in the past.  You will have to save and in different places.  Having been so downbeat there is good news.

Parts of the world are still growing and in fact some areas have the potential to do so for decades.  These are the Emerging Markets.  For 2010 they are forecast to grow their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 5.4% on average, whereas the Developed Markets are predicted to grow by only 1.7%.  In reality Emerging Markets growth has been beating forecasts, whereas countries in Europe and the UK will struggle to get anywhere near 1.7%.

Of course Emerging Markets have always been perceived as risky and no doubt there are still issues in some countries.  However, some of the major reasons for considering them risky have disappeared.

It is now developed nations that are the worlds savers with China now having a staggering £2288bn in foreign reserves.  Countries like Russia and Brazil have also built up large reserves.  Overall public debt in the average developed market is 84% of GDP, but in Emerging Markets is only 31%.  Furthermore private debt is also much lower as the lack of social welfare has meant people have had to save for old age and pay for doctors fees.

There are many comprehensive statistics which illustrate the way growth is affecting business.  Over the last 10 years China for instance has quadrupled its Crude Oil imports and over the last 5 years Chinese household income has doubled.

Of course having all your investments in Emerging Markets would be considered risky but there are ways of increasing your exposure to the Emerging Markets story with diversification.  Investing into Equity Funds based in Emerging Markets is probably one of the highest risk / reward strategies.  Currently valuations do not look expensive and are well below levels reached at the peaks of previous Bull Markets.  To reduce risk I am currently spreading investment by putting smaller amounts with a number of managers.

One reason Emerging Markets equities have not performed well in the short term is that investors are concerned that because of the strong growth, authorities will increase Interest Rates to reduce growth and associated inflation.  

However, high Interest Rates are very attractive to investors in developed nations, who are struggling with near zero rates at home.  Brazil for instance has just put up its official lending rate to 10.25%.  In addition due to their strong economies and low debts, most Emerging Market currencies are expected to appreciate against indebted Western Currencies enhancing potential returns further.

 

Another theme to follow which I have mentioned previously is to invest in Western Companies that produce the goods that the developing markets require.  These include the raw materials required by the ever increasing number of factories and increasingly more important the companies that provide the goods and services that the vast emerging middle class want to buy.  Some are what we consider everyday items such as cars, refrigerators and televisions.  The best brands such as Mercedes, Hotpoint and Sony are still based in developed nations.  They also like luxury goods such as Swiss watches, French Wine and Italian designer clothes.

 

One final ray of sunshine is the American Economy which has recovered much more strongly than European counterparts.  This is because it is a much more dynamic economy with far less red tape.  Companies can reduce work forces if they need to and that is what they have done.  They have not started to hire again and will not do so until they have got as many extra hours out of existing employees as they can.  As a result US productivity costs have fallen 5% this year.

 

In the Wise Active Growth Fund I am investing in these themes, in Funds like M&G Global Dividend, M&G Global Basis and JPM Global Consumer Trends.  The Fund also has holdings not only in general Asia and Emerging Market Funds but also Country Specific holdings in Brazil, China and Russia.  One significant benefit of this policy has been that we have had very little exposure to BP which has had a very negative effect on the performance of the FTSE 100 and some leading UK Funds. 

This blog represents David Stephenson’s views as at 18^th June, and does not constitute financial advice.

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DAVID STEPHENSON'S BLOG UPDATE -  22 MARCH 2010

 A Brighter Decade for Equities?

 

The fog is slowly lifting in the Investment World and the future is starting to look clearer. However, there are still those who believe this is just a lull and the storm will return. Personally I think it is still misty but with a good level head and understanding of the Markets it will be possible to navigate a profitable path forward.

 

What should investors be doing?   Of course, there is no specific answer and everyone's individual circumstances are different.  But if we consider the outlook for various asset classes it may be that the next ten years will be very different to the last.

 

Cash  -  Everyone should hold some cash.  How much you should have will depend on the level and security of your other income.  You should always have some cash available for emergencies because you do not want to be forced to sell other investments at a time when they may not realise their full value.

 

Currently returns on Cash are exceptionally low.  The Bank Base Rate is 0.5% and unlikely to rise before 2011.  However, the Retail Price Index is 3.7% so unless you can earn more than this after tax, you are seeing your purchasing power fall.  There are some term accounts giving a higher return if you are prepared to lock your money away for 3 to 5 years.  Do not expect Rates to rise much even when the Bank of England decides to start tightening.  The UK Banking system (and the US) requires assistance in recapitalising itself.  They achieve this profitability by being able to borrow money from the Government and Money Markets very cheaply and then lend it out at a much higher margin to their customers.  This can be seen in the Government Bond Markets where both US and UK short term Rates are below 1% but 30 year Rates are over 4.5%.  Future economic growth will be reliant on a sound Banking system so do not expect Rates to go up soon.

 

Property is an asset class that investors have traditionally liked.  Residential property prices have held up well but prices remain well above the long term average, especially when compared to average income.  My concern is that at the bottom end of the Market it is still difficult for first time buyers to get on the housing ladder.  The affordability of property is still about 50% above its long term trend for first time buyers.  What happens when Interest Rates eventually rise and, in the Rental Market Landlords are struggling to maintain rental rates?  After a tripling in values since 1996 I think property will, at best, track inflation.

 

The Commercial Property Market is likely to produce better returns than cash but, although prices fell a lot, I do not see a great opportunity for big capital gains whilst there is still a weak economy and a lot of empty office and retail space.  However, rental yields are now back around 7% so as long as capital values do not fall reasonable returns should be achieved.  If anything I think there is a danger that too much money will flow into the traditional Property Funds and this will drive up values in the short term but only to cause another setback as valuations become unattractive again.

 

Last year was a year of two totally different returns for Bond investors.  If you were invested in a Fund that invested in Government Bonds you lost money as Gilt yields rose and prices fell.  The future performance of Government Bonds will depend on many factors, particularly inflation.  The higher inflation is, the more Rates will have to rise and so will Gilt yields, dragging down prices.

 

Even more important though is the projected issuance by the UK Government which is likely to be nearly £200 billion next year.  In order to attract buyers higher yields may be required.

 

Last year was the year of the Corporate Bond as fears of companies going bust receded.  In particular, Funds investing in Financial and High Yield Bonds saw gains of over 50% in some cases.  In general, Corporate Bonds are fairly valued now but there is still some scope for gains from some of the better managed High Yield Funds, especially as they still offer attractive income rates of over 6%.

 

Equities, I believe, selectively offer the best potential returns but I think there is a certain type of Share that offers exceptional value and could produce excellent returns over the next five years.

 

Over the last twelve months Equity Funds produced good returns after an abysmal 2008.  The best returns last year came from Emerging Markets and in the UK from cyclical stocks which fell the most in the previous year.  Currently I see great potential in Shares of multinational companies that produce a high level of earnings from the Developing Markets.

 

The World has split economically since the Credit Crisis of 2008.  As Western economies have struggled, Emerging Markets have boomed, returning to previous peaks.  In the West, consumers are going to face higher taxes and are more reluctant to borrow money.  Paying off debts is now a popular strategy.  However, in Emerging Markets consumers are seeing their income rise and have traditionally been savers so they have the potential to increase borrowings to fund their new found consumer desires.

 

Whilst Emerging Market Indices have rebounded very strongly, there is better value to be found in multinational companies that generate a high level of revenue from these countries.  As the consumers look to spend they are attracted to Global brands.  The rise of the Emerging Market consumer is so spectacular that by 2030 there will be over two billion middle class people in the World.  This is a massive Market to be exploited.

 

Companies of great diversity are expanding into these Markets.  They are, in general, household names such as Unilever, Shell, Coca Cola and Diageo.  A good example I like is a company called 'Yum Brands' which was brought to my attention several years ago by Graham French, an excellent Fund Manager at M&G.  Graham manages their Global Basics Fund which I have held in the Active Growth Fund for the last five years.  I noticed in the Financial Times recently that its Share price had risen significantly as earnings had exceeded expectation by some margin.  Out of interest I had a further look at this company's website which told how it was expanding in China, for instance.  Yum Brands is the Parent Company of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC.  In China there are already 2,870 KFC restaurants and they are opening a new one at least every day.

 

Other Western companies are selling luxury watches, clothing, cars, mobile phones, medicines and financial services.    British companies feature strongly, with 30% of the FTSE 100 companies revenue coming from East Asia.  Companies such as SAB Miller (Drinks), BAT (Tobacco), Rolls Royce (Aero Engines), Burberry (Clothing), HSBC (Finance), Vodafone (Telecoms), and Anglo American (Mining) all have a high level of earnings from these Markets.   In the Active Growth Fund I am therefore increasing weightings in Funds that invest in these companies.

  

The other area I like is more defensive but also very attractive.  This is UK companies with steady cash flows, modest earnings growth and strong finances.  Many of these pay out very attractive levels of dividend with companies such as Vodafone, SSE, BP and Shell all paying over 5%.  I am not optimistic for the UK economy but I believe that the attractions of these companies will eventually lead to a re-rating of their Share prices but all the time we are waiting we are still receiving high dividends.

 

Of course, we have a General Election coming up but this is going to have more effect on domestic companies than those with international earnings.  In fact, with the Pound likely to remain weak this is likely to boost overseas earnings even further.  Yes, Equities have underperformed other assets over the last decade but do not be surprised if they become the best performing asset of the next decade.

 

In my next article I will look at some of the Overseas Markets which I think will remain attractive options for investors.

 

This blog represents David Stephenson’s views as at 22nd March, and does not constitute financial advice.

  

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DAVID STEPHENSON'S BLOG UPDATE -  29 JANUARY 2010

Opportunities in a Volatile Market

Another year and we have a new set of predictions. Some up, some down but all will be invariably wrong. This year we are starting from a position of relative strength, having seen a large recovery in asset values from the year before.

Last year the FTSE 100 produced a total return of 27.3%, the IMA Corporate Bond Sector rose by 14.3% and the IMA Property Sector rose by 12.3%.  Even the Halifax Residential Property Index rose by 5.1% despite all the problems with mortgage lending.

 

So what does 2010 have in store for investors?  Firstly it will not be so easy to make money.  Last year was all about a rebound from really depressed levels.  Last Winter saw a once in a generation buying opportunity, not only for Equity investors but also Corporate Bond and Commercial Property.  Valuations were depressed by fear as investors who had over-stretched themselves were forced to close their positions.  As a result, last year's best performers were mainly those that had fallen the most in the previous year.

 

Looking ahead, investors are likely to be more discerning and will look at fundamentals more closely when making their investment decisions.

 

This is good as I think there is still a lot of value to be found and it should be possible to beat the Markets by following certain themes.  It is likely though to be a more volatile year as, from time to time, investors fret over issues that come to the fore.  Furthermore, in the UK we have the prospect of a General Election so expect the policies being put forward by the major Parties to have an influence on individual Shares.

 

Overall I have not really changed my views since I last wrote in October.  The FTSE 100 has sailed past my short term target of 5400 only to subsequently fall back again.  However, consolidation like this was only to be expected and I think this presents an opportunity for investors to re-assess their investments. Longer term I expect markets to move higher as an economic recovery takes hold.

 

Interest Rates are one of the key themes which I think will be very important.  Expect Interest Rates to stay lower for longer.  I would not be surprised if the Bank of England kept the Base Rate at its record low of 0.5% for the whole of 2010.  Even when they do raise rates they are only likely to do so modestly and it is likely that the peak of the next cycle will be between two and three percent.  It will be a similar situation in Europe and the US where these economies are struggling and have taken on extreme levels of debt.  However, in Emerging Markets and countries like Canada and Australia, where they have strong commodity exports, they are likely to have to raise rates to avoid overheating.

 

This will create a world of stronger and weaker currencies which is a theme I expect to increasingly exploit as Sterling should fall against most overseas currencies. The Euro could be one exception to this as it has a lot of potential problems of its own and is coming from a relatively high valuation. This will increase the value of assets held overseas, whether they be Shares, Bonds or Property.

 

My favourite theme for this year is investing in large dividend paying companies.  In the last year these tend to have been ignored by the Market and there are a lot of attractive stocks paying high dividends with strong and growing earnings.  These encompass companies in the UK which are immune to a poor economic situation, including Utilities such as the National Grid and Centrica.  Furthermore, there is a large supply of multinational companies, such as Vodafone, GlaxoSmithKline, BP and Unilever that, whilst they are based in the UK, get most of their earnings from overseas and have a large exposure to the fast growing Emerging Markets.  Moreover there are overseas companies, such as Pfizer, Apple and Walmart that have similar profiles.  I therefore expect to increase holdings in Funds such as Invesco Perpetual High Income, Newton Higher Income and M&G Global Dividend, all of which are likely to grow dividend payments this year and already produce income well above that available from Deposit Accounts.

 

There are still reasonable returns to be obtained from Bonds but I suspect yields will continue to rise on UK Government Bonds as the Market is flooded by a Government with record borrowing requirements.  However, at some point these may become attractive investments but, in the meantime, there is still value to be found in Corporate and High Yield Funds and I still favour well managed Funds with Invesco Perpetual and M&G.

 

Expect there to be difficult periods this year as investors worry about how Governments will react to the gradually improving situation.. For every set of data there will always be two ways the market can react. For instance, good news on the economy will worry some people that they will tighten policy too quickly whereas bad news could be taken positively as a sign that interest rates will remain low. As time goes by expect the economic fundamentals to win through.

 

For the longer term therefore, I still support investing in Emerging Markets where growth is strong and debt relatively low. However, I think this year there may be more volatility.  As these economies continue to grow at up to 10% p.a.(in the case of China) there will, though, be opportunities to buy for the long term but it may also be sensible to take some profits after any strong rallies.

 

There will be other opportunities which we can exploit over the year.  I expect Technology and Health to be popular sectors and Japan currently looks extremely cheap.  If there are any surprises I think it could be the US economy that rebounds strongly so I have a large exposure to this Market.

 

Overall I think this is going to be a year for the more active investor and it will not be a smooth ride with both positive surprises and doses of bad news. One factor that is common in all historical market events is human nature. People always drive markets up too high through greed and then over sell them due to fear. We are in a transitional phase at the moment. Last year it was FEAR that dominated and led to the market collapse. This fear has not gone away but gradually GREED is starting to surface. Expect these two forces to fight for dominance over the year and eventually greed will dominate if the economy returns to normal.

 

This blog represents David Stephenson’s views as at 29th January 2010, and does not constitute financial advice. 

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DAVID STEPHENSON'S BLOG UPDATE -  20 OCTOBER 2009

 

"Enjoy the Ride"

 

As we move into the fourth quarter, Global Stock Markets continue to rise.  This may surprise some of you but if you are sitting with most of your money in cash you should be concerned as they could go a lot higher before any major correction occurs.  Furthermore, returns on cash will remain low for a significant time ahead.

 

There are a number of reasons why I am optimistic in the short term.

 

Firstly, there are two schools of thought.  The Bulls think the worst is over and that the economy is improving with the tremendous financial stimulus gradually having its desired effect.  On the other hand, the Bears think this is a 'Dead Cat Bounce' and the economy is going to fall back into recession giving us the 'Double Dip'.  Well, if this is the case, all I can say is that the Cat must have fallen onto a trampoline!

 

History is on the side of the Bulls.  Over the last century there have been four periods where Stock Markets have fallen by similar amounts and then had significantly short term rallies.  In each of these cases the Markets continued to rally for at least a further 12 months.

 

Secondly, there is a vast amount of cash still available for investment.  Fund Managers in general are still sitting on above average levels of cash and retail investors have hardly started to move back into Stocks after last year's panic.

 

Many people invested last October into one or two year Bonds offering interest rates of up to 7%.  These are now maturing and current rates are much lower.  Interestingly, investors in our TB Wise Active Growth Fund have earned over 11% since the end of September 2008.

 

As deposit rates look set to stay low for years to come, expect money to flow into other assets that can generate a higher level of return, especially income.  I find it amazing that the least favoured sector for mutual fund investors last month, according to the data provided by the IMA, is the Equity Income Sector.  Two years ago this was the most popular Sector containing such Funds as Neil Woodford's popular Invesco Perpetual Income and High Income Funds.  Whilst these two Funds are no longer in this Sector, due to technical changes, there are still a lot of very well known Funds with holdings in high yielding Equities and I would have thought these would have been at the top of the retail investors' shopping lists.

 

There are bargains to be had, such as the Newton Higher Income Fund which quotes a net yield of 6.91% to a basic rate tax payer.  The Manager is even forecasting to increase the yield by 3% over the next 12 months.

 

This is not just a UK phenomenon.  Investors Worldwide have lots of cash and I expect a gradual move back into Equities as confidence returns.  We are also able to access Overseas Markets through Funds such as the Newton Asian Income and Newton Global Higher Income.

 

Thirdly, we are in the US results season and a vast majority of companies are beating forecast earnings.  This is partly due to things not being as bad as expected and also due to tremendous cost cutting.  It appears that companies have reacted much quicker this time to the changing environment, as can be witnessed by the rapid rise in unemployment.  Top of the ladder this time around seems to be the Technology companies which have performed poorly over the last 10 years.  Apple, for instance, came out with earnings this week that beat analysts' estimates by 28%.  However, there have been good results across a broad range of companies, starting with Alcoa (Aluminium) the first to announce its results,  through to surprisingly strong results from Banks (JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs).  Other companies to beat expectation by a wide margin include Caterpillar (Farm and Construction Machinery) Pfizer (Pharmaceuticals), BlackRock (Fund Management) and Lockheed Martin (Defence).  To date, 79% of companies who have reported their figures have beaten Broker estimates.

 

Due to demands of work I started this article over a week ago but the trend has continued.  Most noticeably has been the pattern of the Market rising to a series of new highs.  There have been a number of very strong days in which the UK Market has rallied by up to 2%, these tend to be followed by a day or two of modest declines which is then followed by another strong upward rally.  This is a very strong sign that there is still good upside momentum.  Investors are using any setback as a chance to buy.

 

If I am right and the Market does eventually rotate into the higher yielding Stocks, this should add even greater momentum to the FTSE 100 as this is the Index that is dominated by companies such as BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Vodafone, Glaxo, BAT and Astra Zeneca.  In the short term I expect the Market to rally to 5400 and then on to 5900.  We may all be surprised by how quickly these levels are reached.

 

 

This blog represents David Stephenson’s views as at 20th October, and does not constitute financial advice.

 

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Looking For The Next Opportunity

 

Following on from my last update, we are still speeding down the Grand Prix straight although we continue to negotiate occasional obstacles (the chicanes) which cause a short term set back but one that is not enough to derail the Bull Market rally. The sceptics or Bears must be feeling very uncomfortable at present and will start to capitulate one by one.

 

Can this go much further? I think so. The picture will change though and it may be necessary to adjust strategy, taking profits on some of the Funds that have done best and re-invest in good Funds that are in sectors/regions that have lagged behind.

 

‘Surely after such a strong rally there are no cheap Funds around.’  On the contrary.  There are a number of diverse sectors that look promising and I will be looking to add to these over the next few months.

 

Equity Income - These Funds have traditionally invested in more defensive companies which produce stable returns and have above average dividend yields. Funds in this sector include some of the most popular with investors such as Invesco Perpetual Income and High Income, Jupiter Income and Newton Higher Income. Typical Fund Portfolios have, amongst their largest holdings, household names such as BP, Shell, Vodafone, Glaxo and Unilever. However, the performance of many of the Funds which have the best long term returns is lagging behind the Market considerably.  For instance, for the year to date the FT All Share Index is up 17.8% whereas Invesco Perpetual High Income is only up 1.9% and Newton Higher Income is up 5.4% (source Lipper at 31/08/09).

 

One reason for the underperformance of these Funds is down to the cautiousness of the Managers who, whilst confident they can make good returns, do not see a sustainable strong economic recovery. Having benefited from a large recovery in other Funds I think now it is prudent to start to consider more defensive Equity Funds that could still benefit from a Market re-rating.  Invesco Perpetual High Income currently yields 4.68% and Newton Higher Income 7.2%. Compare that to what you can get from an Instant Access Bank Account or from a Government Bond.  Furthermore, both these Fund Managers expect to be able to grow dividends going forward whereas if you were to buy a 10 year Gilt you would currently get a fixed return of 3.7% for 10 years.  Moreover, the income on a Gilt is gross whereas the income on Equity Funds is net of basic rate tax.

Interest rates are likely to remain where they are for up to a year and even after that only see moderate increases. Investors will increasingly look to this sector which offers an attractive alternative. As prices rise, yields will eventually drop but if the yield falls 1% you should see a 10% or more gain in capital. This is perhaps a once in a generation opportunity.

UK Property Funds - These have suffered over the last three years. There have been numerous problems with property values falling and Funds being closed to trading, leaving investors stuck in a falling Market.

 

Things could be starting to change. There has been a significant rally in shares investing in property. Since the 9 March, British Land is up 63% and Land Securities 90%. These prices may have got ahead of themselves. However, Funds that invest in bricks and mortar, not shares, have only just started to turn positive. Funds such as the SWIP Property Trust and New Star UK Property have shown small rises recently after falling 32% and 43% from their peaks.

 

Having been forced to sell properties, Funds have now seen the majority of redemptions and now offer good yields. Portfolios of prime commercial property now yield over 8%.  Initial growth may be subdued but as economic recovery sets in expect an upward trend in valuations. These Funds can be useful in a Portfolio as they have a low correlation to Equities and at times are a nice safe haven.

 

Japan - This is another interesting Market. Surprisingly our best holding in the TB Wise Active Growth Fund over the last year has been GLG Japan Core Alpha, up 24.2%. However, Japan is changing. A new Government has been elected and for the first time in 50 years the largest party is not the Liberal Democratic Party.

 

The Democratic Party of Japan recently won a landslide victory which was a resounding vote for change. The policies of the new Government should be beneficial for companies that service the domestic market rather than the large multi-nationals whose names we are all familiar with.  Policy will include measures to help families have more children and boost family incomes. This is important because Japan has the most aged population in the world and will need more people of working age in the future to support the economy. They have also promised to improve social benefits which should, in turn, free up savings which are currently tied up by concerned citizens just in case they may be needed if they fall ill or suffer some other misfortune that is currently not covered by the social system.

 

Investment in Japanese Smaller Company Funds can be profitable if you time it right.  A Fund I favour is the Legg Mason Japan Equity Fund.  Since its last peak on 16  January 2006, this Fund has lost 75%. However, in the previous year it gained nearly 72%. The market for Japanese Smaller Companies looks encouraging but I will only gradually build a position if it becomes clear the time is right.

 

There are other areas as well which are still way down from their previous peaks.  These include those investing in the Aim Market, Technology and Russia. All are being monitored closely. Of course I still hope to see good returns from Funds we have taken substantial positions in. So far this year the TB Wise Active Growth 'A' Shares are up 17.4% compared to 14.5% by the FTSE 100 and 13.6% by the IMA Active Managed Sector.( Source Lipper 31/08/09).

 

This blog represents David Stephenson’s views as at 14th September, and does not constitute financial advice.