The millennial wealth gap
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Rathbone Global Opportunities
Rathbone Global Opportunities is a global growth fund looking to buy innovative companies that have flown under the radar of the main market. It aims to identify global themes and invest in them early. It has been managed by James Thomson since 2003 and has one of the strongest track records in its sector.
Our opinion
This fund is a truly active, unconstrained growth fund run by an experienced manager. James' high conviction contrarian strategy has proven itself over many years. He is not afraid to admit his weaknesses or past errors, a refreshingly honest approach, which allows him to concentrate on his core strengths - including stock picking.
Company description
Established in 1999, Rathbone Unit Trust Management is the asset management subsidiary of Rathbone Brothers Plc. It was awarded the Elite Equities Provider Rating in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. Rathbone Brothers Plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange and employs more than 250 investment professionals in a number of offices around the UK.
Fund manager
James Thomson joined Rathbone in 2000. In 2003, he became co-manager of the Rathbone Global Opportunities fund and in July 2005 he became the sole manager. James grew up in Bermuda, before attending Cornell University in the USA. He joined Rathbones straight after graduating and was later appointed as a Board Director of Rathbone Unit Trust Managers in 2006.
High-quality cooking - our ‘secret sauce’ investment philosophy - clearly identifies and focuses on specific ‘ingredients’ or qualities that we like to see in companies. We add value through high-impact stockpicking, being able to assess and take calculated risks to uncover hidden, potentially lucrative, investment gems.
James ThomsonFund manager
Investment process
James has a contrarian approach, investing in undiscovered, out-of-favour growth companies and holding many for the long term. He likes simple, scalable businesses with entrepreneurial and flexible management teams. The fund is unconstrained, meaning James is free to pick the stocks he likes, rather than what the benchmark contains. He takes his stocks through a three-step process, analysing their fundamentals, meeting their management teams and then assessing the valuation. From here, stocks will be either rejected, added to a watchlist whilst awaiting an improvement in the business or valuation, or purchased at an initial 2% position.
Risk
The fund altered its approach after the global financial crisis, adding a core defensive bucket of reliable growth stocks. These core holdings have helped reduce the fund's volatility. James has a very strict sell discipline and will cut stocks quickly when structural issues arise. Rathbone Global Opportunities is quite concentrated though at 40-60 names, meaning one stock can create a notable effect on the performance of the fund.
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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.