
Four funds for Mother’s Day
This Sunday is the day we say thank you to our mothers for everything they do for us – and try and make amends for all the stupid things we’ve done to annoy them in the past 12 months (and, in some cases, a lot longer). So expect to see lots of people hurrying around shops buying chocolates, flowers and cards over the next two days.
For a bit of fun, FundCalibre has decided to forget about Brexit and wider geopolitical concerns for a little bit to look at four Elite Rated funds which invest in ideal gifts for mothers this weekend.
Liontrust Special Situations – Diageo 3.9%*
This was the easy one for those wanting to say thank you with a bottle of something bubbly. Diageo sells products in over 180 countries and its brands include Talisker (with its distillery run by an all-female management team), Gordon’s and Baileys – but it also owns just over a third of Moet Hennessy, which itself owns the Moet & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot champagne brands. The stock is also one of the largest holdings* in the Liontrust Special Situations fund. Anthony Cross and Julian Fosh only invest in companies which demonstrate they have a strong distribution network, intellectual property or recurring revenues. They also prefer stocks where management has a significant equity stake.
Axa Framlington Global Technology – Amazon 2.23%*
Beyond wine, chocolate, flowers and cards this is arguably the first port of call if you are in desperate need of a gift for Mother’s Day. Retail giant Amazon continues to go from strength to strength with revenues across all business segments totalling £175bn in 2018**. The stock is a top ten player* in Jeremy Gleeson’s AXA Framlington Global technology fund. Jeremy has managed this fund since 2007, but has specialised in technology stocks since 1998. Technology is an inherently risky area but, by avoiding the blue sky companies – those with good ideas but zero income and high development costs – and instead investing in companies with fully developed products, the fund is more likely to avoid the pitfalls that affected tech funds in the early 2000s.
LF Gresham House UK Micro Cap – IG Design 3.1%*
Every good present needs good wrapping paper and IG Design, who are manufacturers and suppliers of gift packaging, greetings cards, stationery and creative products, do precisely that. They are also a top 10 stock* in the LF Gresham House UK Micro Cap fund, managed by Ken Wotton. This is a growth fund that aims to invest in companies that can double their earnings over a five-year period. The manager avoids high risk sectors such as oil, mining and property. The managers have a lot of experience of working with companies and management teams before they come to the stock market, and this can give them an advantage over their peers. The fund only invests in profitable businesses with low levels of leverage.
BlackRock UK Absolute Alpha – Carnival 3.71%*
If you really wanted to push the boat out, you could always pay for a cruise? Carnival is a British-American cruise operator and currently the world’s largest travel leisure company, with a combined fleet of over 100 vessels across 10 cruise line brands. The dual-listed stock is one of the largest holdings* in the BlackRock UK Absolute Alpha portfolio. The fund, which is managed by Nick Osborne and Nigel Ridge, aims to achieve a positive return regardless of market conditions by investing in UK businesses of all shapes and sizes. The fund can be a very useful portfolio diversifier, with much lower volatility than many of its peers in the UK.
*Source: Fund fact sheets, 28 February 2019
**Source: digitalcommerce360.com, 31 January 2019