Bestinvest says
This is a more aggressive version of the core Threadneedle American Fund. It is a higher conviction, focused fund. The fund is usually characterised by a higher beta, stock turnover and tracking error relative to the S&P. Threadneedle operate the largest US equity team based in the City of London. Investment philosophy focuses on the key forces of change in economies and markets and the companies that will benefit. After a period of absence Cormac Weldon returned to manage the fund in April 2004.
Target companies may include smaller and emerging growth companies, those with potential for merger or takeover, those with new management recovery situations and exploration companies. The "Select" investment approach adopts a more aggressive relative structure this means it has the ability to take bigger stock and sector positions which may lead to increased levels of relative volatility, in addition the fund may carry a larger weighting to sub $10bn companies relative to the Threadneedle American fund. Since Cormac Weldon returned to the fund the number of positions has been cut from 80-85 to about 60 and the maximum size of active bets has increased.