fund
This is one of our rated funds. They’re the ones our experts believe will do well for investors over the longer term. Top of the class!
ASI UK Ethical Equity P1
Multi-cap UK equity fund, which invests in companies that meet Aberdeen Standard's ethical criteria.
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74.02p
Price (Inc)
These are the shares in the fund that pay out an income to clients. The income is made up of the total dividends – the money a company can pay out to its investors – from the companies in the fund.
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127.50p
Price (Acc)
These are the shares in the fund that don’t pay out an income to clients. Any dividends – the money a company can pay out to its investors – are reinvested into companies in the fund. Despite no income, the shares should be worth more over time. Good incentive, eh?
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0.00%
Initial chargeSome funds charge you when you first invest, which is aptly known as the initial charge. They’re usually between 3-5% but at Bestinvest, we usually don’t charge you a penny!
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0.75%
Annual management charge
This is how much the fund management company charges to run the fund. It’s like paying a babysitter, dog sitter or house sitter (that makes well-informed, heavily researched changes to improve your baby/dog/house when needed).
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0.90%
Ongoing charges
This stands for Ongoing Charges Figure. It’s the cost of running a fund and includes admin fees, manager fees, administration costs, etc.
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1.60%
Yield
How much the fund is currently paying out in income to investors. It’s NOT to be confused with the overall growth of a fund – a very different thing indeed. It’s also NOT a guarantee of future pay-outs, just a snapshot. This is more what it’s not than what it is…
This fund aims to provide long term growth by investing in a diversified portfolio of UK equities that meet Aberdeen Standard's ethical criteria. The fund follows a reasonably strict ethical process, which includes both negative and positive screening, where a number of companies and industries are screened in or out of the stock selection process depending on their impact on the environment or society. Current areas of exclusion include alcohol, tobacco and companies deemed to cause environmental damage - the latter typically rules out most oil and mining stocks.
Fund summary
| Sector | UK All Companies |
| Structure | OEIC |
| Launched | August, 2012 |
| Size | £352m |
| Yield | 1.60% |
| Charging basis | Income |
| Dividends paid | 30 Apr |
Charges
| Standard initial charge | 0.00% |
| Initial charge via Bestinvest | 0.00% |
| Additional bid/offer spread | 0.00% |
| Annual management charge | 0.75% |
| Ongoing charges figure | 0.90% |
Allocation
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Investment process
The first stage of the investment process is the negative ethical screen of the FTSE All-Share universe. Aberdeen Standard employs MSCI to provide its external ethical screening service. This is supplemented by an internal responsible investment team which is independent from the fund managers. The range also has an Ethical Funds Advisory Group that meets every six months to review the ethical policies and procedures in place. Current exclusions include: companies that cause environmental damage or are involved in nuclear power, animal testing, genetic engineering, intensive farming, alcohol, gambling, pornography, tobacco and weapons. They also exclude any company with human rights violations or poor business practices. These screens eliminate around 40% of the FTSE All-Share by market value. The second stage of the investment process is the positive ethical rating. Positive inclusions include: environmental technology and pollution control companies, companies that promote equal opportunities, companies that donate to charities or are strongly involved in the community, and companies with good principles of business behaviour and ethics. The third stage of the process seeks to rank the companies remaining in the acceptable universe into preferred stocks/ best ideas that will account for at least 80% of the portfolio. This stage of the process is bottom-up and research focused, with the UK equity desk looking for opportunities where companies are focused on change. In forming the portfolio the manager feeds off the rest of Standard Life’s UK desk, using its proprietary quantitative stock Matrix and taking ideas from the team’s “Winners List” of high conviction ideas. The manager seeks a tracking error between 4-10% of the index so the fund is diversified across the sectors that it can invest in.
Fund manager Lesley Duncan has an extensive track record in both UK equity and ethical investing, having taking over the reins of this fund in 2004. She is a member of Aberdeen Standard's large UK equity desk, and benefits from shared expertise and research when constructing the portfolio. The fund's fairly strict ethical approach tends to exclude many of the larger companies in the index, leading to a bias to mid-cap stocks and also to certain sectors. As a result performance often differs from the benchmark and peer group and can be volatile. As with all ethical funds, investors should check the fund's ethical restrictions in the prospectus before investing.
Manager research
Average monthly relative returns
- 15/16 1.25%
- 16/17 -0.84%
- 17/18 0.85%
- 18/19 0.19%
- 19/20 -0.46%
Bestinvest MRI
- 3 years 0.19%
- 5 years 0.20%
- Career 0.12%
- 3 years 77.60%
- 5 years 75.20%
- Career 87.30%
Performance figures are based on the average of monthly percentage returns relative to the benchmark index.
Lesley Duncan
In her role as investment director in Standard Life Investments’ UK Equity team, Duncan manages the UK Ethical fund and specialises in the Household Goods and Support Services sectors. She joined Bothwell Asset Management as a Trainee Analyst in 1993 before moving to Standard Life in 1995 as a Trainee Investment Analyst on the UK desk, becoming an investment manager in 1999. She holds a BA (Hons) in Business Economics and an MPhil in International Finance.
Track record
Lesley Duncan has 15.3 years experience of managing mutual funds in this sector. Over this period the average monthly return relative to the benchmark index has been +0.12%. During the worst period of relative performance (from February 2007 - December 2008) there was a decline of 25% relative to the index. The worst absolute loss has been 50%. Statistically, we estimate the probability that this fund manager is adding value, rather than being lucky, is 87%.
Periods of worst performance
| Absolute | -50.00% (May 2007 - March 2009) |
| Relative | -25.00% (February 2007 - December 2008) |
About the MRI
Our unique indicator: the Bestinvest Manager Record Index (MRI) measures the likelihood that the fund manager is adding value through their decisions. It is based on their performance record over the course of their career, adjusted for the amount of risk taken. MRI is an important contributor to our fund rating system but it is also vital to take account of qualitative factors. It is also very important to select funds to form a cohesive portfolio with an appropriate overall risk level.
Allocation
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Top 10 holdings
Data accurate as at 30 November 2019
| 3.6% | Boohoo Group Plc |
| 3.2% | Bellway |
| 2.8% | Howden Joinery Group Plc Ord |
| 2.7% | Aveva Group |
| 2.7% | Polypipe Group Plc |
| 2.3% | Fevertree Drinks Plc |
| 2.3% | Redrow Plc |
| 2.2% | Smith(Ds) Plc |
| 2.2% | Entertainment One Ltd |
| 2.2% | Kainos Group Plc |
| Source: Trustnet |
Sector breakdown
| Industrials | 25.00% |
| Consumer Services | 23.00% |
| Financials | 17.00% |
| Consumer Goods | 11.00% |
| Technology | 10.00% |
| Money Market | 6.00% |
| Telecommunications | 3.00% |
| Health Care | 2.00% |
| Basic Materials | 1.00% |
| Utilities | 1.00% |
Portfolio
The portfolio tends to hold 50-100 stocks. 75 are currently in the portfolio. Top 10 account for 26% of the portfolio.
Constraints
No sector or stock limits, but any position in a single stock will tend to be below 5%, including cash. Tracking error 4-10%.