Bestinvest says
Given the long term nature of the changes in the sector driven demographic changes taking a long term approach to the sector has much to commend it. Agricultural indices tend to have a high percentage of US stocks so the focus on emerging markets means that they are of no relevance to this fund. Despite this Bouchers performance is in line with the sector since launch.
The manager will identify major themes that are likely to persist for at least 18 months and then look for companies that are the most geared into this. This tends to mean focusing on the lowest cost producers who have pricing power in their local markets or in the case of Agribusiness for example, companies that produce technology that is market leading. This comparative advantage must constantly be sustained and improved upon: this is one aspect that the manager focuses on specifically.
In identifying these long term trends the manager is fortunate to have access to research conducted by Radobank which is currently the only remaining AAA rated bank worldwide due to the fact that they are the worlds biggest commercial agriculture investors.
Boucher also has a very broad investment opportunities spectrum which includes healthcare. An example of an investment in this area might be the combat of obesity or diabetes.