We have removed the Skandia UK Best Ideas Fund from the Wealth 150, our list of favourite funds for new investment in each sector.
The performance has been disappointing recently and although Skandia has made changes to the fund, we would like to see how these changes are working before reconsidering it for the Wealth 150.
At this stage we are not suggesting that investors sell the fund. The changes outlined below could improve performance, but we would like to see evidence of this before suggesting any new money is invested in the fund.
Skandia launched the UK Best Ideas Fund in October 2006. The fund brought together ten of the UK’s most highly regarded fund managers, each of whom picked their ten best investment ideas.
The fund got off to a good start and initially delivered strong returns. However, it suffered during the credit crunch. While it has recovered somewhat since the market bounced in March last year, the recovery has not been as strong as we had expected - the fund initially performed in line with the market but since mid-October last year it has underperformed. We expected far better performance from this fund.
Skandia are seeking to address the issue by reducing the line up from ten managers to seven, focusing on the managers who have demonstrated the best stock picking abilities with their part of the fund. The remaining managers include:
Richard Plackett of BlackRock
Hector Kilpatrick of SVM
Audrey Ryan of Aegon
Richard Buxton of Schroder
Luke Kerr of Old Mutual
Jacob de Tusch Lec of Artemis
George Luckraft of AXA Framlington
We believe the structure of the fund is sound. Bringing together the 10 best ideas of some of the best fund managers in the UK should deliver above average returns. Each of the managers above is first class and so, if Skandia can find the right combination, we believe the fund could once again start to outperform in the long run.
We shall continue to monitor the fund and keep investors who hold the fund in our Vantage Service informed of our views.
The performance has been disappointing recently and although Skandia has made changes to the fund, we would like to see how these changes are working before reconsidering it for the Wealth 150.
At this stage we are not suggesting that investors sell the fund. The changes outlined below could improve performance, but we would like to see evidence of this before suggesting any new money is invested in the fund.
Skandia launched the UK Best Ideas Fund in October 2006. The fund brought together ten of the UK’s most highly regarded fund managers, each of whom picked their ten best investment ideas.
The fund got off to a good start and initially delivered strong returns. However, it suffered during the credit crunch. While it has recovered somewhat since the market bounced in March last year, the recovery has not been as strong as we had expected - the fund initially performed in line with the market but since mid-October last year it has underperformed. We expected far better performance from this fund.
Skandia are seeking to address the issue by reducing the line up from ten managers to seven, focusing on the managers who have demonstrated the best stock picking abilities with their part of the fund. The remaining managers include:
Richard Plackett of BlackRock
Hector Kilpatrick of SVM
Audrey Ryan of Aegon
Richard Buxton of Schroder
Luke Kerr of Old Mutual
Jacob de Tusch Lec of Artemis
George Luckraft of AXA Framlington
We believe the structure of the fund is sound. Bringing together the 10 best ideas of some of the best fund managers in the UK should deliver above average returns. Each of the managers above is first class and so, if Skandia can find the right combination, we believe the fund could once again start to outperform in the long run.
We shall continue to monitor the fund and keep investors who hold the fund in our Vantage Service informed of our views.
