Bestinvest says
More cautious investors with smaller portfolios may be tempted by this fund which provides a one stop shop for investment, investing in a portfolio of equities and bonds, the neutral balance which is 60/40 respectively. However, this split will swing around, and more recently for example the manager has reduced the equity portion of the fund as he's become more cautious towards the outlook for financial markets.
This fund has a very distinct process with the equity element of the fund (majority of assets) following a "value" bias. That is the manager selects stocks on the basis of their absolute cheapness in terms of their share price in relation to their assets or future worth. In terms of identifying potential stocks the manager looks for what he calls “anchor points”, that is he looks for something that he feels is a major factor behind a stock being overlooked or out of favour in the shorter term but whose long term prospects are still good. The manager also dips in and out of the house process and uses the research provided as and when he requires it, meaning that from time to time the portfolio might also hold some growth stocks.
The fund is a diversified portfolio of equities, bonds and other related investments and at times the investment in equities will be limited to a maximum of 60% of the fund’s portfolio. The bond element of the portfolio not only provides extra income yield but is also there for diversification purposes and to reduce equity market risk. As such during more uncertain market periods the weighting to bonds is likely to increase at the expense of equities.