IFSL Wise Multi-Asset Growth

Previously WS Wise Multi-Asset Growth

This fund sits in the Investment Association Flexible sector, which means the manager is afforded a significant degree of discretion over asset allocation and is allowed to invest up to 100% in equities. IFSL Wise Multi-Asset Growth invests in around 30-60 underlying funds and investment trusts, with a preference for out-of-favour areas. Turnover of underlying funds in the portfolio tends to be very low.

Quick Access

Our Opinion

We like the team’s straightforward process and focus on managers with a simple, yet disciplined investment process. The focus on high quality funds, coupled with strong exposure to investment trusts, offers a valid alternative in the IA Flexible sector. Backed by an experienced management team, we like the high conviction positions the managers take – something which is supported by the low turnover of funds.

Fund Managers

Expand

Fund Managers

Close

Vincent Ropers, Co-Manager Vincent joined the Wise Funds team as Co-Portfolio Manager in April 2017. He began his career in 2004, gaining experience in multi-asset research and portfolio management at firms like Goldman Sachs, Fidelity International, and Ignis Asset Management (later Standard Life Investments). He graduated from ESCP Europe in Paris and holds the Investment Management Certificate.

Philip Matthews, Co-Manager Philip joined the Wise Funds team as Co-Portfolio Manager in September 2018. He began his career at Jupiter in 1999, managing retail and institutional equity portfolios with a focus on income generation and investing in UK companies across various market capitalizations. In 2013, he joined Schroders, where he managed the UK Alpha Plus portfolio and the UK Growth Investment Trust.

Vincent Ropers, Co-Manager Vincent joined the Wise Funds team as Co-Portfolio Manager in April 2017. He began his career in 2004, gaining experience in multi-asset research and portfolio management at firms like Goldman Sachs, Fidelity International, and Ignis Asset Management (later Standard Life Investments). He graduated from ESCP Europe in Paris and holds the Investment Management Certificate.

Read More

Philip Matthews, Co-Manager Philip joined the Wise Funds team as Co-Portfolio Manager in September 2018. He began his career at Jupiter in 1999, managing retail and institutional equity portfolios with a focus on income generation and investing in UK companies across various market capitalizations. In 2013, he joined Schroders, where he managed the UK Alpha Plus portfolio and the UK Growth Investment Trust.

Read More

Talking Factsheet

Talking Factsheet

IFSL Wise Multi-Asset Growth

Vincent Ropers

Quote from the Fund Manager

We invest in talented people who benefit from both macroeconomic and valuation tailwinds, across asset classes and geographies. While talent doesn’t go away, winds can turn, so we keep our asset allocation as flexible as possible with no set parameters.

Vincent Ropers

Co-Manager

Investment process

The team adopt a very slight value bias which means buying a stock or fund at a low share price and waiting until it increases in value before selling. However, the fund is not exclusively value in nature. The process starts by building a macroeconomic position and then creating an asset allocation framework from a growth, risk and value perspective. These macro views are fed by the teams’ consistent meetings with managers. The team will look to meet the managers of a product on at least two occasions before adding them to a portfolio. Any further meetings prior to inclusion are due to concerns the product is too expensive, in which case the managers will keep in close contact should the price fall to an acceptable level.

The principle difference between the process of choosing an investment trust and a fund is from a valuation perspective, in this case the managers will spend more time on liquidity, flows and sentiment on an investment trust.

To ensure the managers have strong conviction in their choices, any addition in the portfolio must be worth at least 1%, with the managers building from there. The managers will not invest in any funds or investment trusts which have less than £50m of assets, which helps from a liquidity front.

Risk

IFSL Wise Multi-Asset Growth has been less volatile than the IA Flexible sector in the past decade. As a multi-asset vehicle, the fund has around 30-60 underlying holdings to offer diversification. The team focus on high-quality funds and investment trusts investing in out-of-favour areas, this means performance can take longer to come through.

ESG

ESG - Limited
The team at Wise believes the analysis of ESG factors not only opens up potential investment opportunities but also highlights potential risks, both of which should lead to better investment outcomes. The team actively discusses these factors with its investment managers and expects them to do the same with their underlying holdings. This policy is applied across all asset classes the team invests in whether held directly or indirectly via third party funds.

Whilst the team invests in funds for whom improving corporate governance forms part of their investment strategy or which invest into sectors that create a positive societal or economic impact, the fund itself does not explicitly adopt non-financial considerations, such as an ethical policy or specific exclusions.

The team reads research and annual reports, and holds meetings with executive management teams, board members and fund managers to give it a rounded view of the particular ESG issues facing direct or underlying holdings. The team also favours the investment trust structure for their holdings – where it believes there is strong corporate governance oversight provided by an independent board. It is also active on voting resolutions.

The information, data, analyses, and opinions contained herein (1) include the proprietary information of FundCalibre, (2) may not be copied or redistributed without prior permission, (3) do not constitute investment advice offered by FundCalibre, (4) are provided solely for informational purposes and therefore are not an offer to buy or sell a fund, and (5) are not warranted to be correct, complete, or accurate. FundCalibre shall not be responsible for any trading decisions, damages, or other losses resulting from, or related to, this information, data, analyses, or opinions or their use. The Elite Fund rating is subjective in nature and reflects FundCalibre’s current expectations of future events/behaviour as they relate to a particular fund. Because such events/behaviour may turn out to be different than expected, FundCalibre does not guarantee that a fund will perform in line with its FundCalibre benchmark. Likewise, the Elite Fund rating should not be seen as any sort of guarantee or assessment of the creditworthiness of a fund nor of its underlying securities and should not be used as the sole basis for making any investment decision. FundCalibre disclaims any responsibility for trading decisions, damages or other losses resulting from any use of the Elite Fund rating. All performance data, as well as fund size, OCF, AMC, annual income (historic), share price discount or premium, is sourced directly from FE Analytics, and will change periodically.