AXA Framlington Managed Balanced Accumulation Units

Richard Peirson has seen his fair share of market ups and downs during his 18 years at the helm of the AXA Framlington Managed Balanced Fund. He has one of the longest track records in the sector, and indeed the industry.

His fund blends a range of equities, bonds and other investments to create a core holding for a portfolio. Driving performance recently has been exposure to equities, notably in North America where better economic news has buoyed the market. Richard Peirson believes the US is poised for a modest recovery and is confident equity markets can make progress in 2012. He also points to improving data from China where inflation is now falling, potentially paving the way for cuts in interest rates: a better environment for business and equities.

Given these sanguine views, he has around 80% of the portfolio in equities - close to the fund's maximum of 85%. Approximately half of this is invested internationally, in North America, Europe, Japan and higher risk emerging markets. Here, he often uses ideas from other AXA Framlington managers who run region-specific funds.

The other half is in the UK, primarily in large, international businesses such as Vodafone, Pearson and WPP, the world's largest advertising agency. There is also exposure to some more volatile smaller companies such as Ashstead, a plant hire firm with a considerable presence in the US. Richard Peirson believes the company stands to benefit from an upturn in the US house-building sector.

Last year the fund benefited from holdings in government bonds such as UK gilts and German bonds, which rallied sharply. As prices rose and yields fell Richard Pearson grew more wary, fearing a reversal of fortunes. He therefore exited many of these positions before the end of the year. As a result he has upped the cash weighting in the fund to 6%, a relatively high level, and will look to deploy this back into bonds when he sees better value.

In our view Richard Peirson is a talented manager with a record of shrewd judgements over his 18 years with this fund. We believe long-term prospects remain excellent and the fund therefore remains on our Wealth 150 list of favourite funds across the major sectors.