Bestinvest says
The manager Andrew Holliman left in May 2011 to go to polar Capital. Until a replacement is found the acting manager is Threadneedle's head of US equities Cormac Weldon. We cannot rate this fund until we know who the new manager will be and have assessed his/her own track record. From our recent meeting at Threadneedle it is clear that Cormac Weldon will NOT be the named manager on this fund when they have found a new recruit. So we will need to use the track record of the incoming manager before we can rate this fund. 40-50 stocks are similar between this fund and the more focused, high conviction Threadneedle American Select Fund, managed by Cormac Weldon.
The Threadneedle US equity team consists of 8 investment professions, each with their own sector responsibility. The fund aims to achieve long term capital growth through primarily investing in a portfolio of North American blue chip companies. Although the primary focus is on the largest companies in the US, with at least 60% deriving from the US team's core list, the fund is free to select good quality medium size companies. These supplemental stocks are significant. Company selection emphasises the following :
- dominant franchise in growing or niche markets;
- capable and proactive management with established track record;
- under leveraged balance sheets with strong cash flow;
- milestone events and news flow e.g. earnings, new products;
- attractive valuation (P/E, cash flow).
Since Cormac Weldon returned as head of US equities at Threadneedle in April 2004 the fund has adopted a more focused approach with the number of holdings reduced from 100-115 to about 80. The fund has