This was our first introduction to the strategy and by the managers own admission performance has been mixed over the years. COVID has enabled them to reset the strategy. The fund had around 70 holdings, and now has 43 holdings (slightly higher than the last data we had). The reason for this change was to be more focused and get a greater conviction into the portfolio. They feel they have seen some improvement in performance, but they want to get it right before actively promoting the strategy. They are starting to do meetings again.
The strategy aims to deliver both income and growth. It invests across three broad buckets – growth, cyclical, and steady payers. The current split is around 40% in growth and steady payers, and 20% in cyclical. The strategy aims to pay out what it receives, it doesn’t hold back any income to build a buffer, nor does it take from growth. This has delivered on average an income stream of around 20% above the FTSE All Share Dividend Yield. On a 12-month forward looking basis the fund is projected to deliver a yield of 4.6% vs the FTSE All Share of 3.79%….read more