Back to school: An investment portfolio for every subject

By Juliet Schooling Latter on 1 September 2026 in Ideas & insights

It’s almost back-to-school time. The glorious summer holidays are nearly over, and preparations are underway for another year of studying. Here’s our guide to building an investment portfolio based around the core subjects being taught in classrooms across the country.

Maths

Here we focus on financial services. This is a vast sector encompassing investment funds, asset managers, banks, insurers, pension funds, and other organisations. Liontrust European Dynamic has almost a third of its assets in this sector, while the single largest individual holding is in UniCredit, a major pan-European commercial banking group*.

The fund’s managers usually favour a concentrated 30-40-stock portfolio, while their flexible investment style enables them to rotate between value and growth. If you’re after a more international approach, then GQG Partners Global Equity has around 17% exposure to the sector*. Its focus is on companies with durable future-proof earnings.

English

We have opted to consider UK funds for this subject. Firstly, Artemis UK Select. This is a high-conviction, multi-cap UK equity fund run by an experienced management team. The fund’s ability to short – meaning it can profit from falling share prices – is an added bonus. Its largest holdings currently include Standard Chartered and 3i Group*.

It’s also important to consider funds that focus on companies lower down the market capitalisation scale, such as Unicorn UK Smaller Companies. We like this small, flexible fund’s solid investment process and its focus on company fundamentals and getting under the skin of businesses. Its concentrated nature means it captures outperformance.

Science

Science includes developments in health and medicine, as well as global sustainability issues. Both of these are crucial, longer-term themes and provide exciting investment opportunities.

An obvious starting point is the Polar Capital Global Healthcare Trust. This mainly invests in global companies from four sectors: pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical tech and healthcare services. We see this as a unique offering that invests in a specialised part of the stock market. It has exposure to all the main sectors, while its 10 largest holdings include Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca*.

On the sustainability front, we like Regnan Sustainable Water and Waste. This thematic fund focuses on exposure to water and waste value chains. We believe this is an under-researched area that has little overlap with traditional global equity portfolios. It also has an experienced team at the helm.

Geography

There are endless options for investors worldwide, so the most obvious approach for this topic is to choose a global portfolio. We’ve picked equity and bond options.

First, equities. The JOHCM Global Opportunities fund aims to generate long-term capital growth by actively managing a portfolio of global listed equities. It can invest in any company worldwide but has a strong bias towards larger and medium-sized multinational businesses, such as Shell and Microsoft*.

On the fixed-income front, we have the M&G Emerging Markets Bond. This is a flexible fund that can invest in both government and corporate bonds, in both local currencies and the US dollar. We like the team behind this fund as they’re extremely knowledgeable with impressive performance track records in what is a complicated asset class.

IT

Technology is one of the biggest multi-year themes. One of the best ways to access it is via the AXA Framlington Global Technology fund, which has a global approach. We like its high-conviction approach and willingness to be different from the benchmark. Currently, its largest positions include NVIDIA and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing*.

Of course, artificial intelligence is the theme-within-a-theme. Our suggestion is the Landseer Global Artificial Intelligence fund, which finds companies likely to benefit from this trend. The fund isn’t limited to tech names. Its unconstrained approach means it can invest in businesses of all sizes, while half the portfolio is currently in healthcare and consumer-related sectors*.

Physical Education

PE isn’t an obvious investment discipline, so we’ve opted to look at portfolios with exposure to sportswear, betting and infrastructure. Firstly, VT Tyndall Unconstrained UK Income is a high-conviction portfolio of 30-40 best ideas, mainly from the mid-cap area. Its largest holdings include JD Sports Fashion*. Simon Murphy, its experienced manager, generates diversified income made up of premium yield and dividend growth.

Elsewhere, the Baillie Gifford American fund has exposure to DraftKings**, a digital sports entertainment and gaming company. It’s involved in online sports betting. The fund is run by four co-managers, each with different backgrounds, who focus on the relatively small number of US companies delivering exceptional returns.

Modern languages

French, Spanish and German are three of the most popular languages taught in schools, so we have used this as the basis for our fund selection. Let’s start with the Janus Henderson European Focus fund. It has almost 15% exposure to France, 13% to Germany, and around 9% to Spain*. Although this fund typically holds only about 40 stocks, it’s well diversified and combines established blue-chip holdings with mid-cap stocks. We like the managers’ pragmatic approach, which enables them to consider the macroeconomic environment, sector trends, and individual stock holdings.

Another option is BlackRock Continental European Income. It has exposure to France, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Spain, among others*. The managers look for undervalued companies that offer reliable, sustainable dividends, the potential for dividend growth, and protection against inflation.

*Source: fund factsheet, 31 July 2026
**Source: FE Analytics, full fund holdings, 30 June 2026