Rathbone Strategic Growth Portfolio

Manager David Coombs and his team run this multi-asset fund, which is one of the new breed of portfolios that target risk and then look to maximise returns. The team has an outcome-focused approach and complete flexibility of where to invest in order to achieve that.

Our opinion

With a target of cash plus 3-5% p.a. over a minimum five-year period, and a big focus on delivering this via a risk-controlled framework, Rathbone Strategic Growth Portfolio has more than achieved its aims since launch. The wide-ranging research capabilities of the team and its experience make this a strong consideration for a multi-asset fund.

Fund manager

Heading up the team is David Coombs. He has more than 20 years’ experience managing multi-asset portfolios and is supported by co-manager Will McIntosh-Whyte, and Liz Savage, who is head of research. David also draws from the wealth of investment experience within Rathbones private client division. David previously worked at Barings and Hambros Bank in Guernsey, where he started his career in 1984. He is an associate of the Chartered Institute of Financial Services.

David CoombsFund manager

Investment process

Rathbone Strategic Growth Portfolio invests in actively-managed funds and investment trusts, as well as passives and direct equity holdings. Underlying assets will include fixed income, equities, commodities and property, as well as alternative investment strategies.

The team focuses not only on returns, but also on risk and correlation of assets. David uses a disciplined asset-allocation framework and a forward-looking assessment of correlation, risk and return, as the cornerstone of the investment process. Asset classes are then divided into three distinct categories – liquidity (those that can be bought and sold easily), equity risk and diversifiers.

ESG

ESG - Integrated
The managers of this fund consider material ESG factors in their investment analysis and investment decisions. Material ESG factors are those that could have a significant impact on a company’s business model and financial outcomes, such as revenue growth or cash flow. This enables the managers to uncover any potential ESG risks or identify opportunities a company may have, before deciding whether they believe those factors could be financially material to that company. Crucially, the managers are not attempting to eliminate ESG risks completely, or only invest in companies with strong ESG opportunities. Instead, they are trying to gain a more well-rounded view of every company they look at to make more informed investment decisions and maximise risk-adjusted returns for clients. This means the fund will invest in companies that are adapting/transitioning to reach their ESG goals. The team wants to know the companies they invest in have strong levels of corporate governance and act in the interests of shareholders – while also acting responsibly towards their staff, consumers, and society.

Risk

Rathbone Strategic Growth Portfolio is targeting a risk of around two thirds of equities, so investors are shielded somewhat during market downturns. However, it is unlikely to match equity returns during short-term market rallies, although it should not lag by much. Ad-hoc stress testing of the portfolio is regularly conducted.

See more

Read more about this fund

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.