My fantasy football and investing guide rolled into one

It has been another action-packed sporting summer with the amazing performance of the England women’s football team retaining the Euros; the British and Irish Lions winning in Australia and a great test cricket series between England and India. Naturally, I must also highlight the performance of my beloved Chelsea, who won the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup.

All have since come and gone, but thankfully we don’t have to wait long for more sport as the Premier League is back to entertain all us football fans this Friday. Excitement and anticipation levels will be high: every fan welcomes the clean slate and hopes this might be their year. Having won the aforementioned Club World Cup, this is the first season in a good three years I’ve gone in with a good bit of confidence. Chelsea have spent hundreds of millions once again, but there is a belief that we now have the nucleus of a good team. I’m not sure we can win the league – but we may well be in the mix.

It’s also the week when many of us look to get our fantasy football teams in shape, as we go head-to-head with friends and office colleagues. I actually did quite well last year, as my aim of striking a good balance between defence and attack (as well as adding the odd player who has gone under the radar) came good.

There are a lot of similarities between fund research and fantasy football: despite all the prep and due diligence, your best laid plans can go awry, so you need to be flexible. So here is a bit of a cheat sheet to make sure your fantasy football team and investment portfolio are both ready to go.

It’s all about balance – don’t go too aggressive

Rule one of fantasy football for me – don’t waste all your budget on the strikers. Yes they score goals, but you need to have diversification to succeed. Be it a midfielder who tackles, creates and scores; or a defender who keeps a clean sheet and pops up with the odd goal themselves.

The same is true for an investor, particularly as we live in a Donald Trump-led era of increased volatility and uncertainty. Balance has never been more important given this uncertain direction of travel. Creating a portfolio that is less susceptible to the fluctuations of any single asset or market segment is essential.

Multi-asset is a good port of call for such a solution and a good option here is WS Canlife Diversified Monthly Income fund. Managers Craig Rippe and Jordan Sriharan create a portfolio of income-generating assets, including global company shares, international government and corporate bonds, as well as property. This fund aims for a yield of a least 4% and has returned 39.9% to investors in the past five years*.

Keep the transfers down

Transfers are a tool to reinvigorate your team if the opportunity arises – but you must use them wisely or you end up losing points. Only use them if a player is injured or consistently underperforming (at a time when they should be delivering!) and there is a suitable replacement on offer.

It is the same in the investment world. We only have to look at the recent volatility in markets to know that “time in the market, not timing the market” is what matters most. A good fund to consider if you are worried about the wider market noise is Rathbone Income, which has one of the best – if not the best – track records among open-ended funds for paying dividends to investors. 

Manager Carl Stick maintains a concentrated portfolio of between 30 and 50 holdings, all of which are chosen for their high quality and visibility of earnings. The fund has returned 66.1% over the past five years and currently yields 5%*.

Captain’s pick – don’t go rogue

This should be a tried and trusted selection (the likes of Mo Salah, Erling Haaland, Cole Palmer and Bukayo Saka). The player you select as captain gets double the points – so big gains, but if you select the wrong player you could find yourself losing ground fast. It is a defensive pick.

A good option here would be the likes of Fidelity Global Dividend. Manager Dan Roberts looks for companies with understandable business models and predictable, resilient returns, and is happy to pay a fair price for a good company.

The criteria for selecting companies falls mainly into two buckets. The first is valuation support, with Dan wanting to make sure he does not overpay for stocks – regardless of how good they look – as he does not want to dilute returns. The second is the quality of the franchise. Over the past five years the fund has returned 63.1%, with a dividend of 2.3%*.

More than one route to success – dual purpose performers

In fantasy football, defenders get points for clean sheets. But the real standouts are the ones who can not only defend, but also contribute at the top end of the pitch with goals and assists.

In the investment world you have a number of funds which have not only delivered excellent long-term capital growth, but also offer an attractive dividend to investors. Examples include the Artemis Income fund, a high-conviction portfolio of UK stocks, targeting a rising income and capital gain. It has returned 90.5% in the past five years and yields 3.35%*. 

On the fixed income side, I’d consider a strategic bond (which can invest in various types of fixed income) like the Premier Miton Strategic Monthly Income Bond, which has returned 21% in the past three years (the fund is not five years old) and yields an impressive 5.71%*.

Don’t ignore the new boys

Don’t ignore new players who have a great track record elsewhere. The likes of Florian Writz and Viktor Gyokores stand out on the footballing front. From an investment perspective the WS Raynar UK Smaller Companies fund was only launched last year. However, in Philip Rodrigs it has a manager with an exceptional track record at the likes of Investec and R&M, capitalising on the overlooked nature of small-caps.

Good luck to everyone building their fantasy football team for next season. If you do have a bad start you can always use your wildcard to change your team and fortunes around. However, doing this with an investment portfolio is perhaps not the most sensible decision!

*Source: FE Analytics, total returns in pounds sterling, 10 August 2020 to 10 August 2025