Fund and Sector Reports

According to the Investment Association's (IA) latest data, the UK Direct Property sector has assets under management of £18.4 billion as at March 2019. The sector is home to those funds that invest predominantly in real estate located in the UK and to qualify, at least 70% of a fund must be invested in the asset class over rolling 5-year periods. The sector itself was launched in September 2018 to help improve the comparability of direct property funds.

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The funds in this sector may invest in the debt of emerging market governments and corporates issued in both hard (developed market) currencies, and local (domestic market) currencies. The yield on these bonds tends to offer a significant premium to the yields available on equivalent debt issued in developed markets, although it brings with it commensurate risks.

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This sector has often been used as a mainstay of investors’ portfolios, and rightly so given the simplistic but powerful impact of compounding returns. Many traditional UK Equity Income funds invest in portfolios of blue-chip companies, with long records of sustained dividend payments. However, the UK stock market has become increasingly reliant on a small number of index heavyweights for dividends. In this report, we explore the IA UK Equity Income sector and its recent performance of the sector, as well as funds in focus and its outlook.

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The sector consists of funds that, instead of having a specific return objective, look to target a specific volatility target or range over the long term. Therefore it is perfectly feasible for a fund to have performed poorly but will still be meeting its primary objective by remaining within its specified volatility parameters. In this report, we take a look at the IA Volatility sector, highlighting the recent performance of the sector, funds in focus and its outlook.

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The IA Global Equity Income sector comprised of 56 funds with combined assets in excess of £19bn. To meet the IA's sector requirements, funds must achieve a yield premium to that of the MSCI World index and allocate at least 80% of their assets to global equities. In this report, we take a look at the IA Global Equity Income sector, outlining the recent performance of the sector, funds in focus and its outlook.

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The IA Sterling Strategic Bond sector could most simply be characterised as a flexible bond sector in which investors outsource their fixed income allocations to fixed income experts who then asset allocate between corporate and government bonds. In this report, we explore the IA Sterling Strategic Bond sector, outlining the recent performance of the sector, funds in focus and its outlook.

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Money market funds have been accessible to investors since 1971 and are structured to replicate the traditional investment features of cash deposits, i.e. to be highly liquid and generate returns equivalent to or potentially greater than those of deposits whilst taking on a similar degree of risk.  Given all time highs in equity markets and near record low yields in bond markets, many investors are understandably cautious on the upcoming prospects for global markets and this is driving significant cash balances in many client portfolios.

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