FundCalibre - Investing on the go

This episode focuses on the UK market, highlighting the current generational opportunity and overall optimism despite recent challenges. Simon Murphy, manager of the VT Tyndall Unconstrained UK Income fund , shares insights into the fund's emphasis on mid-cap investments, citing attractive valuations resulting from years of negative sentiment. Simon also discusses the challenges faced during...

Dave Dudding, manager of the CT Global Focus fund , discusses the S&P 500 reaching 5,000 for the first time and various aspects of the current economic landscape, such as supply chain dynamics, inflation, and the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the market. Dave shares insights into specific holdings in the portfolio, including Nvidia, Microsoft, and companies in the pharmaceutical an...

The VT Downing Unique Opportunities fund has a focus on small and mid-cap companies. Manager Rosemary Banyard covers the challenges faced by smaller companies, changing sentiment, and political influences on the AIM market during this interview. We also explore the impact of M&A activities on the fund's portfolio and turnover. We finish with a case study illustrating the concept of long-t...

Chris St John, manager of the AXA Framlington UK Mid Cap fund, walks us through the FTSE 250, providing insights into its composition, changes, and dynamics of the mid cap index. We cover the diversity within the index, sectoral makeup and international exposure and well as the potential for M&A activities in 2024. Chris explains why the FTSE 250 is more sensitive to UK economic factors like i...

Richard Kaye, manager of Comgest Growth Japan , covers a range of topics relevant to investors today, beginning with insights into ongoing reforms at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, emphasising the need for genuine change driven from within companies. The discussion then shifts to the inflation outlook for 2024, the irregularity of the yen's situation and what these two things mean for foreign inve...

James Mee, co-head of multi-asset strategies and manager of the Waverton Multi-Asset Income fund, dives into the current economic landscape, exploring the likelihood of a recession and the factors influencing global markets. Giving an update on fund positioning and allocation across equities, fixed income, and alternative investments we touch on technology, Europe, inflation, interest rates and re...

Darius McDermott and Juliet Schooling Latter return for a comprehensive quarterly market update reflecting on key moments from the last year, particularly focusing on the dominant themes of inflation, interest rates, and technology. Darius and Juliet share insights on the unexpected resilience of markets amid interest rate hikes and discuss notable events from the collapse of SVB and Credit Suisse...

Fixed income yields are at a “once in a generation opportunity” according to Alex Pelteshki, co-manager of Aegon Strategic Bond . Alex provides us with a comprehensive overview on the peaking of rates and yields, emphasising the impact of already tight monetary policies across major markets. Alex also highlights the fund's flexible approach, focusing on opportunities in government bonds and t...

Simon Nichols, manager of BNY Mellon Multi-Asset Balanced , explains why he believes the world’s leading technology firms can continue to deliver strong performance heading into 2024. Simon also explains the fund’s thematic approach, and how it helps identify companies tapping into major themes, like de-globalisation and aging populations, to micro-themes like advancements in semiconductor technol...

Dr. Paul Jourdan, CEO of Amati Global Investors , explores the unique ESGH approach employed by Amati, shedding light on the importance of adding the "H" for Human Rights to ESG, emphasising its significance as a separate category of investment risk. Drawing on experiences over 25 years, he discusses the blind spots in the investment community regarding human rights abuses in supply chai...

This episode covers the interesting dynamics of the past year, including varying economic forecasts, the impact of hiking cycles, and the phases of higher yields in developed markets. Eva Sun-Wai, fund manager on the M&G Global Macro Bond fund , provides insights into the three phases of higher yields, touches on the unique features of the US mortgage market and shares her views on the "h...

Alexandra Jackson, manager of Rathbone UK Opportunities , discusses the challenges faced by the UK equities market, examining the impact of global events, rising bond yields, and third-quarter results on investor sentiment. Alexandra provides a nuanced perspective on the housing market, particularly focusing on Rightmove's resilience amid competition. Alexandra shares her views on the UK&apos...

Dillon Lancaster, co-manager of the TwentyFour Dynamic Bond fund, talks us through the current push and pull factors in the bond market, focusing on the team's strategic moves in response to the central banks' aggressive rate hikes over the past 18 months. We discuss why the team has been favouring government and investment grade bonds, their views on the likelihood of a recession and us...

Bob Kaynor, manager of the Schroder US Mid Cap fund , digs deeper into the US economy. We touch on the ‘Magnificent Seven’ and how they shed light on a wider issue: can the level of concentration in the S&P 500 continue? Or is the AI bubble set to bust? We navigate through the unique challenges posed by student debt, higher interest rates, the US consumer, the employment cycle and the potentia...

Murray Income manager Charles Luke highlights a trio of reasons why the UK market looks compelling at present, while also discussing the importance of focusing on quality companies when there is so much noise. We delve deeper into some of the companies in his portfolio, including a genetics company working on virus resistant pigs and a familiar FTSE 250 name that is set to benefit from an Amazon f...

Samantha Gleave, co-manager of Liontrust European Dynamic , discusses the fund's investment process, including how a company can qualify for its 'cashflow champions' watch list. The interview also touches on the importance of the macroeconomic environment, concerns related to energy prices, the impact of recession in Germany and why the fund is tilting towards value. She concludes w...

Dr. Niall O’Connor, manager of SVS Brooks Macdonald Defensive Capital , gives a comprehensive overview of the financial landscape for investors, including the role of inflation, interest rates, asset valuations across various markets and, ultimately, where there may be opportunities. We delve into the dynamics of investment trusts - including the substantial discounts some are trading at - with Ni...

Sophia Li, manager of FSSA Japan Focus , joins us to discuss the driving forces behind the strong performance of the Japanese stock market in 2023. We delve into the influence of foreign investors - particularly Warren Buffet - on the Japanese market and whether their growing confidence should serve a positive indicator for long-term investors. We discuss the consequences of Japan's aging pop...

Darius McDermott and Juliet Schooling Latter return to discuss the fallout from an incredibly busy third quarter of 2023. The duo discuss whether interest rates have peaked, how inflation is evolving, and why the uncertainty in markets leaves them open to a number of very different economic scenarios. They also touch upon recent political developments, such as the UK's shift on net-zero goals...

In this interview, Richard Parfect, co-manager of the VT Momentum Diversified Income fund, gives an overview of where he believes the opportunities in the market lie today, highlighting high yield, emerging market debt and specialist assets. We then shift to a broader discussion around inflation and how that impacts the fund’s inflation target of CPI plus 5%. Finally, the conversation touches on a...

Will Lough, manager of R&M Global Sustainable Opportunities , tells us more about the newly launched fund. We touch on the coexistence of value investing and sustainability, emphasising the importance of defining these concepts broadly rather than in narrow terms. Will explains how sustainability is evaluated through three pillars: people, innovation, and the environment, with varying importan...

The world's population is projected to become more urbanised, with 68% living in cities by 2050, according to our guests Kate Hewitt and Harriet Topham, ESG and Impact specialists at Montanaro Asset Management. We dive into this theme of the built environment, changing demographics and urbanisation's impact on investments. Harriet illustrates the point with examples from the Montanaro Be...

In this special bonus episode to mark ‘International Podcast Day’, the focus is on a unique FundCalibre event - fund manager speed dating. Seven journalists had the opportunity to interview seven fund managers in a fast-paced setting, delving into their views and investment philosophies. The team at FundCalibre also took the opportunity to find out more about the managers and this episode features...

We touch on the UK stock market’s up and downs with Alessandro Dicorrado, co-manager of the Ninety One UK Special Situations fund, who questions whether recent performance has been driven by sentiment or the overall challenges faced by UK companies today. Alessandro emphasises the team's focus on contrarian investing as we look closer at the fund’s composition.  This interview also covers “si...

David Dudding, manager of the CT Global Focus fund , and newly appointed co-manager Alex Lee, share the fund’s investment philosophy of focusing on company-specific factors, competitive advantages, and long-term growth potential. We also consider global economic trends and thematic investment opportunities such as decarbonisation and energy efficiency. David and Alex also discuss the fund’s holdin...