Jupiter Global Managed Fund research update

In today's challenging environment, flexibility and diversification are vital in any portfolio. The Jupiter Global Managed Fund is a versatile portfolio, seeking to take advantage of opportunities across the globe.

Lead manager, Simon Somerville, is responsible for the fund's asset allocation. His key focus is to establish the geographical and sector weightings within the fund. To aid his decisions, he draws upon the highly-regarded Jupiter Merlin multi-manager team headed by John Chatfeild-Roberts. In terms of individual stock selection, specialist Jupiter managers are responsible for each region or sector. Simon Somerville selects Jupiter’s rising stars to run their allocation of the portfolio as they see fit.

The amount each underlying manager manages will change according to Simon Somerville's long-term views on global markets. Given anaemic growth in the West, the team expect attempts by governments to kick-start growth to continue. Against an uncertain economic backdrop, the managers at Jupiter favour high-quality companies with international reach and sound finances. They aim to select companies who have demonstrated the ability to maintain and grow their earnings ahead of inflation.

Currently, the fund's largest weightings are to global blue-chip companies listed in developed economies such as the US, the UK, Europe and Japan as Simon Somerville believes these firms are more likely to weather further economic instability. Examples include Johnson & Johnson and Microsoft.

A portion of the fund remains invested in Asia. The manager believes the region will be an engine for growth for many decades to come as it continues to benefit from increasing domestic consumption. Lower inflation in emerging markets such as China could also provide governments with the scope to implement policies aimed at boosting economic growth.

Across these regions, the fund is defensively positioned and has a bias towards the health care and consumer services sectors. Simon Somerville is cautious in his outlook for the financial sector due to its sensitivity to swings in market sentiment. To reflect this view, exposure to the sector has been reduced.

Due to recent underperformance of some of the fund's underlying managers, short-term performance has been disappointing. Although the fund can be prone to short-term volatility, performance over the long term has been excellent. Over the last 10 years, the fund has returned 183.5% compared to a sector average of 92.1%*. Remember though past performance is not a guide to the future. We believe investors looking for a global diversified portfolio could benefit over the long term from the skills of a range of talented managers at Jupiter. The fund remains on the Wealth 150 list of our favourite funds across the major sectors.

Past performance is not a guide to future returns. Source: Lipper. *Figures to 01/11/2012