
One of the good things I really like about the
set-up with PNL is that it is specifically run for it's investors and responsive to
their feedback and contributions. I therefore emailed the company regarding my
concerns about the tobacco holdings in the portfolio. From this exchange I was
advised that Troy have recently established a more ethical fund which is run on
very similar lines to PNL and has the same ethos of capital preservation but
excludes tobacco whilst retaining most of the other equity holdings.
The Trojan Ethical fund is managed by Charlotte Yonge who has
been at Troy since 2013 and is also assistant manager of their £4.6bn Troy Trojan
fund. The fund exclusions are alcohol, arms, fossil fuels, gambling,
high-interest loan companies, pornography and tobacco. The fund will only
invest in securities issued by the G7 countries - UK, USA, Japan, Canada,
France, Germany and Italy.
Whilst it's good to exclude these sectors, I think
it would be a good idea if these ethical fund managers started to include - or
at least add greater weighting - those companies which were making a positive
contribution to society and the environment. Here I am thinking of the likes of
renewable energy companies like Orsted and Vestas Wind or those operating in
areas such as clean water or green hydrogen. I suspect that following the
current pandemic, more investors will be thinking seriously about where their
pensions and ISAs are invested. I suspect a lot of people, especially younger
investors, would prefer their money to be invested in ways which create a more
fair and positive society as well as a more sustainable environment.
Performance
Similar to the conservative style of Lyon's Trojan fund which has delivered a total return of 30.8% (average 5.5% p.a.) over the past 5 years - well ahead of the FTSE All Share 1.9% (average 0.4% p.a.) - this multi-asset fund is defensively positioned with an emphasis on preserving capital and low volatility which is just what I require in the current climate.
Similar to the conservative style of Lyon's Trojan fund which has delivered a total return of 30.8% (average 5.5% p.a.) over the past 5 years - well ahead of the FTSE All Share 1.9% (average 0.4% p.a.) - this multi-asset fund is defensively positioned with an emphasis on preserving capital and low volatility which is just what I require in the current climate.
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5 Yr Performance Troy Trojan v FTSE All Share Index |
According to the latest factsheet to end April,
the total return has been 10.8% over the past 12 months compared to -16.7 for
the FTSE All Share Index - it's early days for this fund but clearly off to a good start in these turbulent times! The
current allocation is similar to PNL with 45% equities, 35% govt. bonds, 12%
gold and 8% cash.
Top equities include Microsoft, Google,
Nestle, Medtronic, Visa, Unilever, Colgate Palmolive and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. Unfortunately I have not been able to locate a full list of holdings for this fund.
I have compared the holdings with Personal Assets:
I have compared the holdings with Personal Assets:
I have purchased the 'X' version which has
slightly lower charges of 0.87% compared to the 'O' version. The fund was added
to my portfolio earlier this week at the price of 105p.
As ever, this article is merely a record of my personal investment decisions and should not be regarded as an endorsement or recommendation - always DYOR!
That's an interesting find. It's quite a new fund, inception date 28th Feb 2020.
ReplyDeleteDid you see they have an S version too? It's not available in any of my brokers though, only the O and X flavours.
https://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/funds/snapshot/snapshot.aspx?id=F000013DGX
Yes, I see from their website they had the 'O' and 'S' version but no explanation of the difference. I was surprised to see the new 'X' version available from AJ Bell Youinvest. I am more familiar with investment trusts and not so au fait with funds and not sure why they offer the three versions of the same fund with slightly different charges...I am sure some readers will have the answer!
DeleteI recently entered a 10% position in this fund based on it's flexibility and the fund house's long term success instead of a pure bond fund and I think it's worth reading their monthly updates.
ReplyDelete