Good income hunting

Every now and then we take a look back over our most popular articles and search terms to see what you have been reading and what kind of information you’re looking for us to provide.

And no surprises in our current low rate environment, income has been the theme of the year!! With bonds around the world heading into negative yields and UK companies cutting dividends, it seems everyone is on the hunt!

Some are searching for the best yield among bond sectors, while many have turned to global equities in an attempt to boost and diversify their portfolio income.

Below are our five most viewed Elite Rated income funds in 2016¹, as well as their returns for UK investors so far this year. Don’t forget, global income funds’ total returns have been boosted by the falling pound, as income earned overseas is now worth more when converted back into sterling.

1. Invesco Perpetual Monthly Income Plus

Total returns year-to-date: 5%²
Annual historic income: 5.6%³

Invesco are widely considered to be one of the UK’s best bond houses and the Invesco Perpetual Monthly Income Plus fund is their flagship product. It invests in UK investment grade and high yield bonds, and may also hold up to 20% of its portfolio in UK equities if the managers see fit.

2. Woodford Equity Income

Total returns year-to-date: 3.8%⁴
Annual historic income: 3.3%⁵

Neil Woodford’s infallible reputation for understanding the macroeconomic environment and investing accordingly have stood him in good stead this year, with plenty going on in global economies. The Woodford Equity Income fund takes a long-term approach and invests in cash-generative companies, but while recognising external factors that may impact prices and industries in the short term.

3. Newton Global Income

Total returns year-to-date: 28.4%⁶
Annual historic income: 2.9%⁷

Moving into global equity income sectors, the manager on the Newton Global Income fund looks for stocks yielding at least 25% more than the FTSE World index and will sell companies if they no longer meet this criteria. Research starts with thematic analysis, finding sectors that may be expected to outperform and then looking for opportunities within those sectors.

4. Artemis Global Income

Total returns year-to-date: 19%⁸
Annual historic income: 3.3%⁹

The manager on the Artemis Global Income fund tries to ‘think outside the box’, looking for less well-known names instead of stereotypical dividend-paying stocks.

5. Evenlode Income

Total returns year-to-date: 19.8%¹⁰
Annual historic income: 3.4%¹¹

Evenlode Income has been a star performer since the Brexit vote, with the fund positioned in high quality, defensive businesses in the UK. It has a significant weighting to large caps, which did very well following the referendum, as these companies who earn a lot of their revenues overseas can benefit from a falling pound.

¹Google Analytics, fundcalibre.com, page views 01/01/2016–19/10/2016
^2,4,6,8FE Analytics, funds’ total returns in GBP, 01/01/2016–19/10/2016
^3,5,7,9,11FE Analytics data on fundcalibre.com fund notes, updated 01/10/2016