Aegon, Artemis and Baillie Gifford funds added to FundCalibre recommended list

Source: Trustnet

Aegon Global Equity Income and Artemis SmartGARP Global Emerging Markets have been added to the FundCalibre Elite Ratings list of recommended funds.

The former is managed by Mark Peden, Douglas Scott and Robin Black and aims to deliver a higher yield than the wider market while also achieving both income and capital growth.

They use a “simple but effective” six-metric dividend screen, combined with their own research to ratify the quality of a business, ensuring stocks are not included purely based on yield. 

Juliet Schooling Latter, research director at FundCalibre, said: “We are particularly impressed by the fund’s repeatable framework and its ability to deliver steady performance across different market environments, avoiding both deep value traps and speculative growth exposure.”

Performance of fund vs sector and benchmark over 10yrs

Source: FE Analytics

The £888m Aegon Global Equity Income fund has been a top-quartile performer in the IA Global Equity Income sector over one, three, five and 10 years, more than tripling investors’ money over the past decade.

“Its combination of discipline and consistency makes it a compelling long-term core global income holding,” she said.

Meanwhile, the £2.6bn Artemis SmartGARP Global Emerging Markets fund is run by FE fundinfo Alpha Manager Raheel Altaf and centres around the strategy’s proprietary screening tool to whittle down potential stocks before fundamental analysis is undertaken.

“This blend of systematic insight and human oversight has delivered a robust and repeatable process over time, with particular strength in value-led environments,” said Schooling Latter.

“The result is a disciplined and well-constructed emerging markets portfolio that offers a compelling way to access the asset class.”

Artemis SmartGARP Global Emerging Markets has been the second-best performer in the IA Global Emerging Markets sector over the past decade and has made top-quartile returns over one, three and five years as well.

Three more funds were added to the firm’s Elite Radar, a badge for funds on the research team’s watch list.

Altaf appeared on this list too, with his Artemis SmartGARP Global Smaller Companies added to the radar.

“Given the success of the SmartGARP approach across other regions, we see strong logic in applying it to global small-caps, where inefficiencies are often more pronounced,” said Schooling Latter.

“While still early in its development, the process is well-defined and the combination of systematic selection with experienced oversight makes this an exciting addition.”

Global equity funds were in vogue among the FundCalibre team, with WS Amati Global Innovation also added to the radar.

Managers Mikhail Zverev and Graeme Bencke focus on companies benefiting from structural, real-world innovation, categorising holdings as pioneers, enablers and adopters.

Schooling Latter said: “Their highly relevant and diverse technical backgrounds provide a strong foundation for analysing complex, innovation-driven businesses. The fund’s willingness to look beyond mega-cap incumbents and into less-covered areas of the market gives it a differentiated return profile.

“While deliberately underweight many dominant US technology names, it offers a complementary source of innovation exposure within a broader portfolio.”

On the multi-asset side, Baillie Gifford Cautious Managed was added to the Elite Radar. The fund is split 50/50 between equities and bonds, with around 400 holdings across the entire portfolio.

Chris Salih, head of multi-asset and investment trust research at FundCalibre, said: “The structure offers investors a cost-effective way to access Baillie Gifford’s equity expertise while maintaining a meaningful defensive allocation, making it a well-constructed cautious option within the multi-asset space.”

Elsewhere, SVS RM Defensive Capital was upgraded from the Elite Radar to an Elite Rating while M&G Income and Growth was downgraded as lead manager Steven Andrew retired last month. Lastly, abrdn UK Mid Cap Equity lost its Elite Rating due to continued underperformance.