Manager review
The JPM fund is co-managed by James Elliot, Talib Sheikh and Shrenick Shah, who are specialised in equity, fixed income and derivatives, respectively.
“They are also supported by the global multi-asset strategy and global multi-asset research teams to form macro themes and investment strategies,” Ng said.
The Invesco fund is co-managed by David Millar, head of multi-asset, and his teammates Dave Jubb and Richard Batty, with support coming from various arms of Invesco including economists and other investment professionals.
“Managing a global macro multi-strategy fund requires sophisticated investment and risk management functions and therefore team quality and capacity are important. Both the JPM and Invesco teams demonstrate adequate resources to manage their funds.”
Fees
The latest ongoing charges (OCF) of the JPM product (Class A Acc EUR) are around 1.45%, lower than that of the Invesco fund (Class E Acc EUR), which is 2.17%, Ng said.
Conclusion
Despite the Invesco fund’s shorter track record, Ng concluded that both management teams have the competence and adequate resources to manage the funds well according to their objectives.
“This is important because a regular monitoring framework has to be in place to maintain their set target of volatility level. In addition, the more strategies they get right, the more the likelihood they will be able to deliver the targeted return.”
He believes that over the medium term, both funds should be able to deliver the targeted return and risk levels that they pursue for investors. Also, they are both strong vehicles to serve as diversifiers for investors’ overall portfolios.
But the choice between the products depends on what the investor is looking for.
For investors pursuing absolute return strategies with higher risk and return targets, the JPM product may be the better choice among the two, Ng said.
“On the other hand, the Invesco fund could be a better choice for those with a lower risk tolerance level.”
Ng added that the base currency of the two funds is in euros and the targeted risk and return of the funds are also set in terms of euros. “If that were not the case, investors could find a very different risk/return profile after any currency conversion.”
