HL Multi-Manager Funds – Interview with Lee Gardhouse

HL Multi-Manager Funds: An update from Lee Gardhouse

Susannah Streeter, Senior Investment & Markets Analyst, sits across from Lee Gardhouse, Chief Investment Officer, in a brightly lit room.

Susannah looks to the camera to introduce and ask her opening question:

“I’m Susanna Streeter and I’m here with Lee Gardhouse. Lee, the markets have been extremely volatile over the past year. What do you make of it all and how has this affected the multi-manager funds?”

Lee Gardhouse:

“The good news is the markets have actually been pretty strong, certainly over the last 12 months, but it has been a time I would say of extreme volatility, the likes of which I’ve not really seen since back in sort of 1999. It's been fascinating to see how the markets have reacted particularly in ways that you might not have expected. We had the crash and then we had a recovery that started right in the teeth of when Covid was really taking hold and there were lots of reasons for concern but actually markets started recovering. More recently, we then had positive vaccine news and that actually led to a really quite dramatic change in the market leadership, a movement from safety first which is where I think the focus had been as we got the first level of recovery, more towards a sort of a risk-on appetite willing to back new exciting growth opportunities. But also, those companies that people were genuinely worried might have gone bust as we went through Covid and are seeing now the potential for recovery.”

Susannah Streeter:

“How have you been adapting to all of this with multi-manager funds- what changes have you made?”

Lee Gardhouse:

“We're always looking for new investment talent and we have added a couple of new managers, one in the US within the smaller company area, a very experienced manager that works within the fund management business Artemis. We've also been in a position where we've actually taken quite a lot of profit from some of the areas that have performed extremely well. We felt it's right to actually sort of trim and take some of those profits and add to areas that have perhaps been a bit more left behind.”

Susannah Streeter:

“With all these conflicting tides across the financial market ocean, how important is it do you think that investors really do have an eye on diversification? Do you think the volatility that we've seen makes it even more important?”

Lee Gardhouse:

“I'd absolutely say that's right. Our view, well certainly my view having met hundreds if not thousands of fund managers over the years is there's no one right way to manage money. You can have a process that you follow that is very growth orientated and do extremely well out of that. Equally some managers are just exceptionally good at picking the timing of when something is completely oversold in this dual recovery. So I would always say that it's better to have a diversified approach rather than a two focused approach not least because when the area that you're in goes out of favour, that is quite telling, you know very difficult to sort of hold on when things get tough. So, for me diversification is always the right way to go forward.”

Susannah Streeter:

“And do you think that's where the multi-manager funds come into their own really because they have diversification right at the core? “

Lee Gardhouse:

“Absolutely right, we've talked about the quality of fund managers being key but again you don't want to have all your eggs in one basket. Even the best fund managers go through times where they underperform so diversification we've always felt is the critical value add from the multi-manager offer.”

This video is not personal advice or a recommendation to invest. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment for your circumstances, please seek advice. Investments can fall as well as rise in value so you could get back less than you invest. Past performance is not a guide to the future. The HL Multi-Manager funds are managed by our sister company Hargreaves Lansdown Fund Managers.

Correct as at May 2021