Barclays Multi-Manager Funds

There are five managers within the GlobalAccess Emerging Market Equity Fund: Arrowstreet, NS Partners, Pzena, Schroders and ARX. Each are experts in investing in these specialist markets, but will do it in quite different ways:

• Arrowstreet Capital is a US based company, whose investment approach utilises computer programmes and automated systems to buy and sell shares. The team believes that shares prices do not always fully reflect the true value of the businesses, and that comper programmes can identify opportunities by analysing large amounts of data as information and prices change every day.
• NS Partners believe that country selection is important in Emerging Markets, and by analysing liquidity and political risk, look to steer their stock selection to those countries they think have the most favourable economic environment. The team focus their in-depth stock analysis on companies with a strong competitive advantage, high profitability and robust balance sheets, and prefer those companies, industries and countries that they believe have superior long-term growth potential.
• Pzena have an interesting approach to investing, aiming to identify companies which are simply out of favour with investors. The team believes that most investors do not want to invest in businesses that are experiencing problems or are otherwise out of favour. Investors will typically avoid such companies until their problems have been resolved. But, with careful analysis, Pzena aim to identify those companies that have potential to recover.
• Schroders manage a portion of the Fund dedicated to companies in Asia and they have a large and experienced team based in Hong Kong. They place great emphasis on factors they believe make a ‘high quality’ business, which includes things such as good quality management and strong revenue/earnings. The team acknowledge that these companies are not always cheap, but over the long term it is certainly an approach that has potential to deliver returns to investors.
• ARX is based in Rio de Janeiro and invests solely in the shares of companies in Brazil. The team’s approach focusses on investing in companies which pay dividends, and specifically to identify those companies which have the ability to continue paying their dividends into the future.

Each one of the five fund managers has a particular style to how they invest. Over the long term, we believe each of the managers has the ability to outperform. But during the short and medium term, there may be periods when one of the managers underperforms.

By investing in five very different managers together, the aim is to deliver more consistent performance, as when one underperforms we hope that the other managers have the potential to deliver outperformance. This variety of skills and expertise is packaged together in a single product, making the GlobalAccess Emerging Market Equity Fund an easy way to access a diversified investment that invests across the Emerging Market regions.

Investments can fall in value. You may get back less than you invested. These are our current opinions but the future, as ever, is uncertain and outcomes may differ. Past performance of the fund and its manager are not a reliable indicator of their future performance.

There are two managers within the GlobalAccess Global Corporate Bond Fund: PIMCO and Wellington. Each are experts in investing in these specialist markets, but will do it in quite different ways:

• PIMCO, or the Pacific Investment Management Company, is one of the world’s largest investors in bonds, and has one of the largest and most experienced team of analysts and fund managers in this market. Their approach to investing in bonds starts with understanding where they believe global markets and economies are heading in the long term, which then influences where they invest. The teams of analysts then look to identify the best companies to invest in, across each of these different markets around the world.
• Wellington tends to be nimbler and more opportunistic, with the ability to change their investment portfolio on the back of shorter term news and market ‘noise’. They believe they can take advantage of market inefficiencies, which is where the price of bonds doesn’t reflecting their true value due to various reasons such as human emotion. These situations create undervalued or overvalued bonds in the market, and hence investment opportunities.

Both of these fund managers have a particular style to how they invest. Over the long term, we believe each of the managers has the ability to outperform. But during the short and medium term, there may be periods when one of the managers underperforms.

By investing in two very different managers together, the aim is to deliver more consistent performance, as when one underperforms we hope that the other managers have the potential to deliver. This variety of skills and expertise is packaged together in a single product, making the GlobalAccess Global Corporate Bond Fund an easy way to access a diversified investment that invests across this specialist market.

These are our current opinions but the future, as ever, is uncertain and outcomes may differ. Past performance of the fund and its manager are not a reliable indicator of their future performance.

There are two managers within the GlobalAccess Japan Fund: Baillie Gifford and Schroders. Both are experts in investing in the Japanese stock market, but will do it in quite different ways:

• Baillie Gifford have what is known as a ‘growth’ style to investing, which means they are looking for companies that are growing their earnings at a higher rate than the average company and have the potential to continue doing so in the future. And while you might typically expect to pay more for these types of companies, the team at Baillie Gifford find Japan a particularly interesting market because the shares of these companies are often valued much the same as those of a company without this potential for growth. As a result, the team are able to identify global leading businesses whose shares are cheaper and trade on a substantial discount to similar companies found on other global stock markets, such as the US.
• Schroders have a very different style to investing, along what could be described as a ‘value’ approach. The team look for price inefficiencies. This is a term to explain share prices which are simply not reflecting the true worth of the companies themselves. The team at Schroders gain an advantage by conducting a great deal of research into individual companies, to unearth those businesses whose share prices simply don’t reflect what they believe is their true value. This typically leads the team into parts of the market which may be overlooked, unloved or simply out of favour.

Both of these fund managers have a particular style as to how they invest. Over the long term, we believe each of the managers has the ability to outperform. But during the short and medium term, there may be periods when one of the managers underperforms.

By investing in two very different managers together, the aim is to deliver more consistent performance, as when one underperforms we hope that the other manager has the potential to deliver outperformance. This variety of skills and expertise is packaged together in a single product, making the GlobalAccess Japan Fund an easy way to access a diversified investment in the Japanese stock market.

These are our current opinions but the future, as ever, is uncertain and outcomes may differ. Past performance of the fund and its manager are not a reliable indicator of their future performance.

There are three managers within the GlobalAccess US Equity Fund: Alliance Bernstein, Ceredex and T Rowe Price. Each are experts in investing in the US stock market, but will do it in quite different ways:

• Alliance Bernstein is based in New York and have an approach to investing that looks for highly profitable companies which are continually reinvesting their profits back into the business. This reinvestment into their businesses, instead of paying out the profits to shareholders as dividends, should therefore help generate further future growth, but only if the profits are reinvested into what the team call ‘value creating’ opportunities. And the team spends a lot of time finding those companies that have the ability to consistently do so over many years to come.
• Ceredex is based in Orlando, Florida, and has what we would describe as a ‘value’ approach to investing. The team look for three attributes that a company’s shares must exhibit, before they invest in it. The first two are simple – the shares must be paying a dividend and they must be cheaper than the average share in the market. The third factor Ceredex look for is a ‘catalyst’, which they believe will change the market’s perception of that business, such that its share price no longer remains cheap, and therefore outperforms in the process.
• T Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, Maryland, and is a global fund management company with over 150 analysts who are dedicated to researching the world’s stock markets to find attractive investment opportunities. The investment approach here is to work closely with these analysts, to invest in a portfolio of US equities of the very best ideas.

Each one of the three fund managers has a particular style to how they invest. Over the long term, we believe each of the managers has the ability to outperform. But during the short and medium term, there may be periods when one of the managers underperforms.

By investing in three very different managers together, the aim is to deliver more consistent performance, as when one underperforms we hope that the other managers have the potential to deliver. This variety of skills and expertise is packaged together in a single product, making the GlobalAccess US Equity Fund an easy way to access a diversified investment in the US stock market.

These are our current opinions but the future, as ever, is uncertain and outcomes may differ. Past performance of the fund and its manager are not a reliable indicator of their future performance..

The Barclays Sterling Corporate Bond Fund is currently solely managed by Fidelity, one of the largest firms in the industry with operations across the Americas, Europe and Asia. Their corporate bond business boasts an experienced team of portfolio managers that have many years of experience and who have worked through many different market environments. The portfolio managers are supported by resourceful teams of credit analysts, quantitative analysts and dedicated traders. Their approach to investing involves placing significant emphasis on detailed research, analysing to great depth every single company they invest in or consider investing in.

We view Fidelity as a well-rounded manager who can draw on the large teams of analysts to help generate consistent returns. The lead portfolio manager, Ian Fishwick, has over 30 years of investment experience and has been managing this Barclays portfolio since 2007. 

The strategy benefits from macroeconomic views from specialists across different investment teams within Fidelity. A leading team of research analysts provide in-depth insights into companies, helping to identify attractive, high quality bonds to invest in. Because Fidelity have teams working in different regions across the world, the portfolio manager has the ability to draw on these local specialists, which we believe is a key advantage over some of their competitors.

These diversified sources of skills and expertise are packaged in the Barclays Sterling Corporate Bond Fund, enabling our investors to capitalise on the manager’s specialism in the Sterling corporate bond market.

These are our current opinions but the future, as ever, is uncertain and outcomes may differ. Past performance of the fund and its manager are not a reliable indicator of their future performance.

There are five managers within the Barclays UK Alpha Fund: Jupiter, Majedie, Liontrust, JP Morgan, and Polar Capital. Each are experts in investing in the UK stock market, but will do so in different ways:

• Jupiter has a deep belief that the price you pay for an investment is the main factor that determines the returns you make from it. They look to buy deeply out of favour, but financially secure, companies. The two fund managers are patient investors with a strict discipline which will see them sell a holding when it reaches their target price.
• Majedie’s style is one that generally likes to identify shares that can continue to grow their earnings, year on year. The managers want these companies to have some kind of competitive advantage over their peers. The portfolio is well diversified and includes a portion of smaller companies.
• Liontrust take a simple approach to investing and like to own companies with characteristics that set them apart such as brand loyalty. They like to hold shares for many years, aiming to profit from the compounding effect of strong company earnings and reinvestment of dividends.
• JP Morgan’s UK Equity investment team try to take advantage of human behavioural biases. The fund buys companies whose future prospects are underestimated by the market and are cheaply valued. It also looks to buy profitable companies run in a disciplined way by their managers. Finally, it tries to find shares where analyst estimates and target prices don’t fully incorporate changes to how the company is actually operating.
• Polar Capital have a methodical investment approach and believe the best companies to buy are those which are cheaply valued, are able to maintain good returns on the money they invest in their business, and which are financially stable. They actively take the profits received from successful investments and invest into new names they consider to be temporarily undervalued.

Each one of the five fund managers has a particular style to how they invest. Over the long term, we believe each of the managers has the ability to outperform. But during the short and medium term, there may be periods when the managers underperform. By combining these managers, the aim is to deliver more consistent performance, as when one underperforms we hope that the other managers have the potential to do well.

This variety of skills and expertise is packaged together in a single product, and our careful blend of each manager’s allocation to the fund and their investment style makes the Barclays UK Alpha Fund an easy way to access a diversified investment in the UK stock market.

Investments can fall in value. You may get back less than you invested. These are our current opinions but the future, as ever, is uncertain and outcomes may differ. Past performance of the fund and its manager are not a reliable indicator of their future performance.

There are three managers within the GlobalAccess UK Opportunities fund: Lindsell Train, Heronbridge and JO Hambro. Each are experts in investing in the UK stock market, but will do it in quite different ways:

• Lindsell Train look for companies with exceptionally strong brands that produce high levels of cash flow, in the belief that these companies continue to deliver even during periods of recession. They think that these resilient companies are few and far between, so will only invest in 20-25 companies at a time.
• Heronbridge use in-depth analysis on the amount of cash that companies generate, in the belief that cash represents the real health of a company. They use this to discover ‘good companies at fair prices, and fair companies at good prices’.
• JO Hambro take a ‘value’ approach to investing, which means the manager looks to buy companies that are misunderstood and out of favour. Specifically, they look for companies that they believe are changing for the better, but whose potential for growing their earnings and profits has not been recognised yet by other investors in the market.

Each one of the three fund managers has a particular style to how they invest. Over the long term, we believe each of the managers has the ability to outperform. But during the short and medium term, there may be periods when one of the managers underperforms.

By investing in three very different managers together, the aim is to deliver more consistent performance, as when one underperforms we hope that the other managers have the potential to deliver. This variety of skills and expertise is packaged together in a single product, making the GlobalAccess UK Opportunities Fund an easy way to access a diversified investment in the UK stock market.

These are our current opinions but the future, as ever, is uncertain and outcomes may differ. Past performance of the fund and its manager are not a reliable indicator of their future performance.

There are two managers within the Barclays UK Small and Mid Cap Fund: Jupiter and Schroders, making up about half of the fund’s assets each. Both managers are experts in investing in the UK stock market, but will do so differently:

• Jupiter’s investment approach is a flexible one, looking for companies it believes can grow their earnings faster than the market expects. Their main focus is on identifying earnings that are growing consistently, year on year, but are open minded in complementing such holdings with companies that are cheaply valued and able to beat market expectations in the short term. The best ideas are taken from a highly experienced team which we believe gives them an edge in finding these companies across a range of different sectors.
• Schroders look to find good value medium and small sized companies, with an investment approach that differs to Jupiter. Depending on where they find opportunities, the team use their judgement to balance amounts invested in two different parts of the market. The first focussing on strong companies with the potential to continually grow their earnings, and the second looking at companies that may simply be out of favour and look cheap in comparison to the market. The team spend a lot of time analysing companies to ensure they invest in only those that are financially secure.
  

Each one of the fund managers has a particular style to how they invest and we believe the two different investment approaches are highly complementary to one another. Over the long term, we believe each of the managers has the ability to outperform. But during the short and medium term, there may be periods when the managers underperform.

By investing in two very different managers together, the aim is to deliver more consistent performance, as when one underperforms we hope that the other has the potential to deliver. This variety of skills and expertise is packaged together in a single product, and our careful blend of each manager’s allocation to the fund and their investment style makes the Barclays UK Small and Mid Cap Fund an easy way to access a diversified investment in the UK stock market.

Investments can fall in value. You may get back less than you invested. These are our current opinions but the future, as ever, is uncertain and outcomes may differ. Past performance of the fund and its manager are not a reliable indicator of their future performance.

There are two managers within the Barclays UK Equity Income Fund: Aberdeen Standard and Jupiter. Each are experts in investing in this part of the UK stock market, but will do it in quite different ways:

• Aberdeen Standard’s approach is to look for companies that are not only paying a dividend, but can also grow their earnings and revenues. This approach looks for companies that are changing in some way that will lead to an improvement in how they operate. Its belief is that if a company is growing its earnings, this will lead to an increase in its dividend, which will be welcomed by the market and the share price will rise. The fund will invest across the entire market, but the manager tends to focus his attention on some of the less-researched areas such as smaller and mid-sized companies
• Jupiter, on the other hand, has very different approach. They believe that over a long period of time, the share price of companies will all return to average, which means expensive shares will one day no longer be expensive and cheap shares will one day no longer be cheap. So, if they can find cheap shares that pay strong dividends, it will lead to superior returns as the share price bounces back to a more ‘normal’ valuation. However, in order to qualify, these companies must have a strong operating business model and not too much debt.

Both of these fund managers have a particular style to how they invest. Over the long term, we believe each of the managers has the ability to outperform. But during the short and medium term, there may be periods when one of the managers underperforms.

By investing in two very different managers together, the aim is to deliver more consistent performance, as when one underperforms we hope that the other has the potential to deliver. This variety of skills and expertise is packaged together in a single product, making the Barclays UK Equity Income Fund an easy way to access a diversified investment in this specialist part of the UK stock market.

These are our current opinions but the future, as ever, is uncertain and outcomes may differ. Past performance of the fund and its manager are not a reliable indicator of their future performance.