fund
M&G North American Dividend I
A North American equity fund paying an attractive yield.
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2963.38p
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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3376.25p
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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0.91%
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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1.70%
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 maximise total return whilst aiming to grow distributions over the long term by investing in North American equities. Manager Aled Smith uses a cash flow based filter to target specific types of companies he believes are often undervalued by the market. Often these will be underperforming businesses benefiting from internal or external change, but the portfolio also includes "quality" companies he believes can improve further. The portfolio includes all sizes of companies but is biased to mid caps.
Fund summary
| Sector | North America |
| Structure | OEIC |
| Launched | August, 2012 |
| Size | £0m |
| Yield | 1.70% |
| Charging basis | Income |
| Dividends paid | 31 Oct |
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 | 0.91% |
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Investment process
This fund once had a strong track record under former manager Aled Smith, but returns were consistently poor following the financial crisis and we downgraded it to a sell rating in 2014. In April 2015 the fund was converted into an income mandate under a new manager, John Weavers.
Manager research
Average monthly relative returns
- 16/17 0.44%
- 17/18 -0.03%
- 18/19 -0.03%
- 19/20 -0.27%
- 20/21 -0.42%
Bestinvest MRI
- 3 years -0.24%
- 5 years -0.06%
- Career -0.16%
- 3 years 25.10%
- 5 years 53.60%
- Career 33.70%
Performance figures are based on the average of monthly percentage returns relative to the benchmark index.
John Weavers
Weavers was appointed manager of the M&G North American Dividend Fund in April 2015; he has been a member of the income franchise since January 2012. He joined M&G as a graduate in 2007 and initially worked within the Equities Research team as an analyst. John graduated from Oxford University in 2006 with an honours degree in politics, philosophy and economics. He is a CFA charterholder.
Track record
John Weavers has 5.8 years experience of managing mutual funds in this sector. Over this period the average monthly return relative to the benchmark index has been -0.16%. During the worst period of relative performance (from June 2018 - October 2020) there was a decline of 13% relative to the index. The worst absolute loss has been 17%.
Periods of worst performance
| Absolute | -17.00% (July 2019 - March 2020) |
| Relative | -13.00% (June 2018 - October 2020) |
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 31 July 2020
| 8.5% | Microsoft Corp |
| 5.5% | Visa Inc |
| 4.2% | Fidelity National Info Services Inc |
| 4% | Broadcom Inc |
| 3.9% | Anthem Inc |
| 3.9% | Lam Research Corp |
| 3.8% | Unitedhealth Group Inc |
| 3.7% | Constellation Brands Inc |
| 3.7% | Lowes Companies Inc |
| 2.9% | Harris Corp |
| Source: Trustnet |
Sector breakdown
| Information Technology | 37.00% |
| Health Care | 16.00% |
| Financials | 12.00% |
| Consumer Discretionary | 8.00% |
| Consumer Staples | 7.00% |
| Industrials | 6.00% |
| Energy | 4.00% |
| Materials | 3.00% |
| Real Estate | 2.00% |
| Utilities | 2.00% |