Manager review
The Aberdeen fund is managed by the global equity team, which is headed up by Stephen Docherty, who joined the industry in 1992 and joined the firm in 1994, Li said.
The team is based in Edinburgh in the UK and has 15 members. Among the six people dedicated to global equity strategies are: Bruce Stout, Stewart Methven, Jamie Cumming, Samantha Fitzpatrick and Martin Connaghan. Most are senior professionals who joined the team as a result of Aberdeen’s various acquisitions.
For the Deutsche fund, its current manager Oliver Kratz joined the industry in 1994 and the team in 1996. He has headed the team since August 2003.
“Oliver is a high-conviction manager [who] makes the final investment decisions, but works collaboratively with Ralf Oberbannscheidt, who is also a seasoned investor who joined the industry in 1996 and the team in 1999.
“The pair is supported by a team of research analysts, who are generalists [with] no designated sector or [regional] responsibilities,” she said.
Fees
The annual management fee of the Aberdeen fund is slightly higher than that of the Deutsche fund (1.5% versus 1.3% per annum), but the differences are not significant, she said.
As of the end of March 2015, the total expense ratio of the Aberdeen fund was at 1.75%, according to the FE Analytics, while that of the Deutsche fund was at 1.58% as of the end of 2007. Li said the total expense ratios of the two funds are in line with their peers.
Conclusion
Both the Aberdeen and Deutsche funds are benchmark agnostic, which can be a welcoming diversifier to conventional global equity funds, Li said.
“Both funds have a general large cap profile with a blend style. However, the Aberdeen fund is significantly larger than the Deutsche fund and the two funds reach investment decisions through two distinctively different paths.
Essentially, the choice boils down to Aberdeen for safety, Deutsche for novelty.
“Although fundamental stock picking of Aberdeen could appear to be safer, the thematic thinking of Deutsche makes much intuitive sense. The decision is probably down to investor’s own preference.”
