The FSA Spy market buzz – 6 June 2025
Animal spirits run wild; Franklin Templeton is taking credit; EM banking revolution; Not all luxury is equal; Death of search and the AI machine; George Soros on wins and much more.
HEAD-TO-HEAD: Blackrock versus Church House
FSA compares two absolute return products: the Blackrock UK Absolute Alpha Fund and the SVS Church House Tenax Absolute Return Strategies Fund.
Manager review
The Blackrock UK Absolute Alpha Fund is managed by Nigel Ridge, who took over the portfolio in April 2013. He has been a member of the UK Equity team since 2004 and has been running long/short mandates since 2005. Prior to working at Blackrock, he spent six years at Schroder Investment Management.
McDermott likes Ridge’s pragmatic approach to stock selection, which incorporates top-down and bottom-up processes.
“The Blackrock fund also has a large infrastructure behind it with manager Nigel Ridge supported by two dedicated analysts and 12 sector analysts,” said McDermott.
The managers of the Church House fund are James Mahon and Jeremy Wharton. Mahon isthe chief executive and chief investment officer of the eponymous firm, which he helped set up in 1999.
Wharton is a director of Church House, with a particular strength in fixed interest, and has worked as participant in the UK government bond market and as a professional investor in derivatives during his career.
Wharton has also received the alpha manager rating from FE Fundinfo, which reflects his long experience and skill managing absolute return strategies, according to McDermott.
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