HEAD-TO-HEAD: Janus Henderson versus Threadneedle

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Conclusion

Morningstar has awarded the Janus Henderson fund four stars based on historical returns, and a bronze analyst rating. The firm rates Threadneedle higher with five stars, and a forward-looking analyst rating of bronze.

FE Fundinfo, which bases its assessment on a fund’s three-year history of delivering alpha, minimising relative volatility and producing consistent returns, awards the Janus Henderson fund four crowns and five crowns for the Threadneedle fund.

According to Parekh, the quality growth approach employed by Moore at the Threadneedle fund is expected to be less volatile given its focus on quality. High quality stocks tend to be less volatile than lower quality ones.

“Therefore, we should expect the Threadneedle fund to be less volatile over longer periods and protect on the downside better,” he said.

Indeed, over both Moore’s – albeit short — tenure, and under Dudding, the standard deviation of returns was markedly lower than the benchmark, according to Parekh.

“But Moore only has a short track record as a fund manager and while he still has other resources available to him, such as former manager David Dudding, whom we have a good opinion of, we still need time to assess Moore’s portfolio management skills,” Parekh said.

The Janus Henderson fund is not particularly volatile either, Parekh noted.

“Indeed, it should be fairly close to the benchmark, as it has been over Bennett’s tenure, and in fact has been below benchmark. This owes to the low active share, well-blended portfolio and Bennett’s sensible approach to risk management,” said Parekh.

Fund manager Bennett has well over 30 years of investment experience, much of that managing investment funds. Morningstar rates his portfolio management skills highly, but it notes that there has been turnover in his supporting team in recent years as highlighted previously.

“While the two fund have different processes, they each have their merits,” Parekh concluded.

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