Schroder Managed Balanced: October 2026 Fund Update

• The fund taps into the expertise of several Schroders managers

• It provides a high level of diversification in one convenient investment

• It’s focussed on shares, with some other investments in bonds and alternatives

• This fund features on the Wealth Shortlist of funds chosen by our analysts for their long-term performance potential

How it fits in a portfolio

The Schroder Managed Balanced fund mainly invests in funds run by other managers at Schroders, with its investments spread across a broad range of assets including global shares and bonds. The fund is very diversified, providing investors with broad market returns.

We think this fund could form the core of a broader portfolio aiming to deliver long-term growth with fewer ups and downs compared to a portfolio that is only invested in shares.

Manager

This fund is managed by Remi Olu-Pitan and Nick Pearson.

Olu-Pitan is Head of Multi-Asset Growth and Income. She started her career in 2006 when she joined Schroders. She focusses on what types of assets the fund should invest in, and from which region.

Pearson has managed the fund since October 2022. He joined Schroders in 2015 and worked on this fund before he became a manager. He focuses on the day-to-day management of the fund and works closely with Olu-Pitan to decide what the fund invests in and what size each investment should be.

While Olu-Pitan is involved in a number of different funds in her role as Head of Multi-Asset Growth and Income, Pearson’s focus is the Managed Balanced fund. We think the pair have enough time and resource to manage this fund effectively.

Process

This is a 'fund of funds'. The managers primarily invest in funds run by other Schroders fund managers, although they can also invest outside of the Schroders range where necessary. Collectively those managers invest in hundreds of different companies and bonds. This means the portfolio offers plenty of diversification.

Schroders' Global Asset Allocation committee meet regularly to decide how much to invest in different areas and assets. In forming their views, this committee benefit from analysis and insight from a number of specialist in-house teams.

The fund tends to favour shares when the economic environment is positive. But in times of stress it’ll shift to more diversified assets, such as bonds and cash, aiming to minimise losses.

Once the Asset Allocation Committee has recommended where and how much to invest, the managers seek to identify several different funds that reflect those views. Every fund must enhance returns or reduce risk to justify its place in the portfolio.

Over the 12 months to the end of August 2026, the managers have increased the amount invested in company shares and reduced investments in bonds. Within the shares part of the fund, the managers have increased investments in global equity and emerging market funds. They’ve also invested directly in some specific themes such as commodity and financial companies and reduced the amount invested in the UK stock market.

Within the fixed interest part of the fund, the managers have increased their investments in emerging market bonds and reduced the amount in investment grade corporate bonds.

At the end of August 2026, the fund had 76.1% invested in shares and 15.5% invested in bonds, compared to 71.6% and 20.4% respectively at the end of August 2025.

Please note that investments in high yield bonds, emerging markets and derivatives all add risk.

Culture

Schroders is a multinational asset management company that employs hundreds of investment professionals across the globe. The managers of this fund can tap into that experience and local knowledge to help them make investment decisions. Schroders is home to many high calibre fund managers, so Olu-Pitan and Pearson have plenty of good funds to choose from.

Olu-Pitan has been with the company for well over a decade, and the broader team has remained stable too. Pearson also has 10 years with the company. They're all incentivised in a way we think aligns their interests with those of long-term investors.

On 1 October 2026 Nuveen, a US investment management company, bought Schroders. It’s too soon to know what impact that will have on Schroders’ culture but we intend to monitor this over the coming 12-24 months as the two businesses combine.

ESG Integration

Schroders has invested significantly in Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) resources and tools. Each investment desk has access to a variety of data sources that have been brought together into a proprietary platform called SustainEx, which allows investment teams to quantify a company’s positive and negative contributions to society.

All Schroders funds were required to pass the firm’s inhouse ESG accreditation process by the end of 2020. This process is managed by the Sustainable Investment team, who sit on the investment desk with fund managers. There is a set list of criteria that funds must meet to become accredited, and fund managers are expected to develop their approach to ESG integration over time.

The Schroders Sustainable Investment team acts as a focal point for ESG, proxy voting, and engagement. Where they vote against a proposal, they are transparent on the reasons for this. And all engagement activities and outcomes are monitored, tracked and reported in their quarterly and annual Sustainability reports.

It’s clear that ESG is integrated across the firm. For the Managed Balanced fund, this means that ESG risks are suitably incorporated into investment decision making, both for the fund and for the underlying Schroders funds it invests in. However, this fund is not a specialist responsible or sustainably invested fund.

Cost

This fund has an ongoing charge of 0.93%. But through Hargreaves Lansdown you can secure an ongoing saving of 0.59%. This means you’ll pay an ongoing charge of 0.34%. We think the fund is attractively priced compared to its peers in the IA Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares sector.

The fund discount is achieved through a loyalty bonus, which could be subject to tax if held outside of an ISA or SIPP. The HL platform fee of up to 0.35% per year also applies, except in the HL Junior ISA, where no platform fee applies.

Both a buy and sell instruction will be subject to HL dealing charges. Find out more about our charges.

Performance

The managers aim to deliver performance that doesn’t stray too far from the broader IA Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares sector. Overall, the fund has outperformed the sector since Olu-Pitan became a manager in March 2011. It’s returned 186.7%* over this period compared to the sector average return of 165.1%. There are no guarantees that this will continue though, and there have been periods where performance has varied from the benchmark.

The fund has outperformed its peers in the IA Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares sector over the past year, gaining 15.1% compared to 12.1%. Shares provided the largest positive returns for the fund. Reducing the amount invested in bonds and increasing the amount in shares added to this performance. Tactical investments in companies within commodities, US technology, financials and Japan performed well. Investments in alternative assets were also positive for performance.

These gains were partly offset by some losses in other tactical investments, such as Asian technology companies and emerging market bonds, as well as some losses in government bonds.

This fund is highly diversified which means that individual stock or bond selection doesn’t have a meaningful impact on performance compared to peers. Instead, decisions around how much to invest in different assets, such as shares and bonds, are most relevant. Decisions about which areas within shares and bonds to invest in are also important. Overall, we expect the fund to perform similarly to peers over the short-term, resulting in outperformance over longer time periods.