Premier League 2026/27: Meet FundCalibre’s starting XI

By Chris Salih on 18 August 2026 in Multi-Asset

It’s hard to believe the World Cup final took place only five weeks ago – but for football fans the start of the 2026/27 Premier League season cannot come soon enough!

Last season saw Arsenal end their 22-year wait to become champions (patience is a virtue for both football fans and investors) – but this is the week where football fans have peak optimism ahead of the new season.

Is a phrase often used in English football, referring to the thought that fans should refrain from raising their expectations too high in case their team fails.

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. There are so many similarities between fund research and fantasy football. It’s all about being flexible – and you can’t simply rely on putting all the heavyweights (football players and fund managers) into the same team and hoping it works. It’s very much a balancing act.

Balance is particularly important in today’s financial markets because investors are facing a mixture of positive and negative economic signals. Stock markets have remained relatively strong, with the S&P 500 recently reaching record highs, supported by easing inflation and continued optimism around technology and AI companies. However, there are also significant risks. Bond yields remain elevated because of concerns about government debt, inflation and increased borrowing costs. Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have also pushed oil prices higher, creating the possibility of renewed inflation and slower economic growth.

With this in mind, we thought we’d build a FundCalibre XI of funds that would give investors a great squad to reach their investment goals, keeping flexibility at the heart of the team.

Goalkeeper

Goalkeepers often get the headlines for making great saves, but the very best ones are usually those who make the fewest mistakes. Their role is about doing their job consistently, staying calm under pressure and making the right decisions when it matters most. They don’t necessarily need to hog the limelight; instead, they provide a calm, reliable presence that gives confidence to the entire team.

For this we’ve gone for a tried and tested multi-asset fund in the shape of the Rathbone Multi-Asset Strategic Growth Portfolio. Managed by David Coombs, the fund targets a risk of around two-thirds of equities, so investors are shielded somewhat during market downturns. 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, equity risk and diversifiers. The fund has returned 80% in the past 10 years*.

A back three to yield returns

With our trusty safe hands sorted – we’ve gone for a back three this year. We will start with two strategic bond funds in the shape of Jupiter Monthly Income Bond and Artemis Strategic Bond.

Managed by Hilary Blandy,Jupiter Monthly Income Bond is a combination of investment grade and high yield bonds, with the manager varying the weight between these two buckets, depending on whether they want to be more aggressive or defensive. The fund’s simple, short-duration approach reduces both volatility and risk and it can quickly reinvest maturing cash at new rates. The fund’s monthly income payment makes this an attractive option for income seekers, with the portfolio currently yielding 6.5% — while the fund has consistently been first quartile in its sector over the past five years**.

Managed by David Ennett, Liam O’Donnell and Grace Le, Artemis Strategic Bond adopts a dynamic and unconstrained approach to fixed income investing. This inherent flexibility allows them to focus on capital preservation in challenging markets and capitalise on opportunities in favourable conditions, with the fund actively allocating across government bonds, investment-grade credit, and high-yield corporate bonds, according to the stage of the economic cycle. It currently yields 5%**.

The third defender is another multi-asset fund in the shape of Orbis Global Cautious. As with the Orbis Global Balanced fund, this portfolio will also have a contrarian stance, but will have much larger exposure to bonds (roughly double the Balanced fund) and half the equity position (currently 28%)***. The team uses 50 analysts across the world to build the portfolio – and has produced a positive return each year since the fund launched in 2019. Not only is it defensive in nature, but it can surprise on the upside with its contrarian stance from time to time, returning 16% in 2025 alone****.

A solid five in midfield

Our midfield five starts with a couple of investment trusts offering attractive income to investors. Investment trusts have a unique advantage when it comes to paying a regular income. Unlike other types of investment fund, investment trusts don’t have to pay out all the income they receive from their portfolios each year. They can save up to 15% and tuck it away in a revenue reserve. This allows them to hold back some of the income they receive in good years and use it to boost dividends when payouts might otherwise be falling.

A couple we like that offer that defensive anchor to the midfield are City of London Investment Trust, which focuses on larger UK companies and pays a dividend yield of 3.75%***, and Invesco Global Equity Income. The latter portfolio is style agnostic, focusing on businesses with resilient cash flows, strong balance sheets, and the ability to generate growing dividends over time, with a current yield of 4.76%**. It has returned 114.5% in the past five years**.

Another international player we like is Fidelity Global Dividend, which sits in the box-to-box midfielder bracket. 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.

The final two midfielders are more attacking in their approach.

The first is Liontrust European Dynamic where the managers run a concentrated, equally-weighted portfolio of European companies, with the aim of delivering capital growth over the long term. They look for attractively-valued companies that generate significantly more cash than they need to sustain their planned growth and which are run by capable company managers who are committed to using cashflow in an intelligent manner, in the belief that cashflow is the key to long-term growth. The fund’s long-term performance has been impressive, returning 239% over the past 10 years*.

My final midfield pick is actually a global emerging markets fund which has a quality element at the core of its process. Templeton Emerging Markets Investment Trust targets businesses with strong balance sheets, good cash flow generation and attractive valuations. The investment process is geared around three specific areas: structural long-term opportunities; sustainable earnings; and responsible stewardship. Stock selection is the primary driver of returns for this style-agnostic portfolio. The result is a high-conviction offering of 70-90 names.

A front pairing of strikers with a huge ceiling

Going down the 3-5-2 route allows us to go very aggressive with our front pair.

The first is AVI Japan Opportunity Trust. Since its launch in 2018, manager Joe Bauernfreund and the team has consistently delivered strong performance across a variety of market conditions. They have shown they are able to take advantage of the opportunities created by the major changes to Japanese corporate governance. We like the trust’s focus on targeting high-quality companies with excess cash where there is potential to unlock value through active engagement with management – something they have consistently demonstrated since launch, returning 83% to investors^.

Our second choice up front is Allianz China A-Shares, which is managed by Shao Ping Guan, who has led the strategy since July 2023. He combines a bottom-up, research-driven approach with macroeconomic and policy analysis to identify high-quality Chinese companies capable of delivering sustainable earnings growth. The opportunity set is vast – the China A-Shares market has over 5,000 stocks accounting for 70% of Chinese equities. But the big kicker is the diversification opportunity it offers investors in terms of performing differently to global equities. It has returned 50% in the past 12 months alone**.

*Source: FE Analytics, total returns in pounds sterling, 12 August 2016 to 14 August 2026
**Source: FE fundinfo, at 16 August 2026
***Source: fund factsheet, 31 July 2026
****Source: FE Analytics, total returns in pounds sterling, discrete calendar year
^Source: FE Analytics, total returns in pounds sterling, 23 October 2018 to 14 August 2026