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What’s Hot
- Kicking us off is Thesis’ Eldon fund, a small tech-heavy fund that blew up starting in September 2021, falling more than 40% and still not far off of these lows today, even after the bounce that is evident in the last month...
- …It focusses on high-quality mega-caps, but they became grossly overvalued during the last bull market. Recent action feels like a bear market bounce, as Adobe, Danaher, ASML, Visa etc. remain relatively expensive.
- Absolute Return funds also had quite a time last month, with their ability to weaponise derivatives and short positions. AQR are notable in this field…
- …These kinds of funds tend to not move in line with the rest of the market (low correlation) and can add considerable value during downturns and market uncertainty, when the correlation of most assets increases markedly…
- …But proceed with caution as these funds can cut both ways. The eagle-eyed among you will notice that VT Argonaut Absolute Return, was our single worst performer in the previous month.
- Elsewhere UK Value has stormed ahead, showing up in two “Special Situations” funds and M&G’s Recovery featuring. Also see Chart Of The Week on Value-style funds.
- Europe also had a bumper month, off the back of a slew of unexpectedly sunny GDP reports, though ignoring inflation ticking up again.
What’s Not
- Half of the Not’s list is very much unsurprising. A resurgent Chinese market has taken a well-earned breather. See our sectors based What’s Hot here for more information.
- The other half is, to many in the financial media at least, more surprising. Gold and to a lesser extent Silver and other precious metals got creamed last month. This is despite inflation concerns and market uncertainty, which, according to gold enthusiasts is a reason to jump on board…
- …We have said it before, gold isn’t “real money”, it isn’t “the ultimate inflation protection” and it certainly isn’t “the most intrinsically valuable metal/commodity”. The latter would be something like copper, palladium or silicon.
What’s Hot
|
Name
|
Sector
|
Last Month's Performance %
|
|
Thesis Eldon
|
Unclassified
|
9.22
|
|
VT Argonaut Absolute Return
|
Targeted Absolute Return
|
6.83
|
|
Ninety One UK Special Situations
|
UK All Companies
|
6.39
|
|
Artemis SmartGARP European Equity
|
Europe Excluding UK
|
5.58
|
|
AQR Style Premia UCITS
|
Targeted Absolute Return
|
5.43
|
|
AQR Systematic Total Return UCITS
|
Targeted Absolute Return
|
5.05
|
|
Liontrust Global Technology
|
Technology and Technology
Innovation
|
4.95
|
|
Jupiter UK Special Situations
|
UK All Companies
|
4.71
|
|
M&G Recovery
|
UK All Companies
|
4.64
|
|
FTF Martin Currie European Unconstrained
|
Europe Excluding UK
|
4.62
|
What’s Not
|
Name
|
Sector
|
Last Month’s Performance %
|
|
GAM Star China Equity
|
Offshore FCA
|
-11.98
|
|
Ninety One Global Gold
|
UK OEICs
|
-11.53
|
|
GAM Multistock China Evolution Equity
|
Offshore FCA
|
-11.48
|
|
BlackRock Gold & General
|
UK Authorised Unit Trust
|
-10.92
|
|
Jupiter Gold And Silver
|
Offshore FCA
|
-10.82
|
|
Allianz China Equity
|
Offshore FCA
|
-10.81
|
|
Quilter Investors Precious Metals Equity
|
UK OEICs
|
-10.59
|
|
Matthews China
|
Offshore FCA
|
-10.55
|
|
Invesco PRC Equity
|
Offshore FCA
|
-10.44
|
|
Janus Henderson Horizon China Opportunities
|
Offshore FCA
|
-10.26
|
Performance 01/02/2023 – 28/02/2023.
All performance figures quoted as total return in GBP. All funds <£50m size and ETFs excluded.