Posted inHead To Head

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Blackrock versus Schroders

FSA compares two UK equity products: the BlackRock GF United Kingdom Fund and the Schroder ISF UK Equity Fund.
by Thomas Blott

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Performance

Despite the recent macro headwinds in the UK following sterling’s collapse, the FTSE index has actually outperformed year to date, although active managers have had a tough time, particularly those with large exposures outside the UK.

BlackRock has fared worse, delivering a return of -24.41% compared with -20.2% for Schroders and a sector average of -14.27%. BlackRock has been particularly hurt by its exposure to US growth equities.

However, BlackRock has fared better out of the two on a historical basis and has generally outperformed the benchmark, which Poole attributes to its focus on growth stocks.

“Its growth bias did result in some higher volatility, but good returns left a solid Sharpe ratio. Stock selection has been the key driver of performance, reflective of the bottom-up stock picking process,” he said.

In contrast, Schroders has been modestly behind the index, but this masquerades periods of strong outperformance, Poole noted.

Schroders’ volatility is 29.9%, which compares with a sector average of 25.83%. BlackRock fared a bit better than the index with volatility of 25.22%.

Discrete calendar year performance

Fund/Sector

YTD*

2021

2020

2019

2018
BlackRock

-24.41%

14.27%

4.32%

23.15%

-10.77%
Schroders -20.2%

-12.72%

-17.48%

13.3%

-9.14%
Equities – United Kingdom -14.27 -15.86%

-8.7%

18.48%

 -11.43%
Source: FE Fundinfo. Annual returns in US dollars. *1 Jan 2022 – 23 Sep 2022

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