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.

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.

James Thomson Rathbone

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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