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Multi-Manager funds can be
an attractive option for investors
seeking an effective ‘one-stop-
shop’ solution for their investment
needs. While you may not have too
much of a problem defining your
overall investment aims, putting
together the right balance of long
term investments at a level of risk
you are comfortable with is not
straightforward. And managing those
investments over time to provide the
best chance of achieving the long-
term results you are looking for is an
even greater challenge.
The premise of a Multi-Manager
fund is that these time-consuming
and onerous tasks are put in the
hands of an experienced professional
investment manager. And experience
is not something that Schroders’
Multi-Manager Team are short of, as
we learnt from head of teamMarcus
Brookes when we caught up with
him and fellow teammember Robin
McDonald.
‘As the name implies, the Schroder
Multi-Manager Diversity range
invests in a number of hand-picked
funds selected from across the entire
market. Robin and I have 35 years of
combined investment experience*,
and much of this time has been spent
together developing and refining the
investment process behind the range,’
Marcus says.
‘Our dedicated Multi-Manager team
is now five strong,’ adds Robin. ‘And
as part of Schroders we have access
to economic and market insights
from a very well resourced and
experienced global team of over
400 investment professionals with
exposure across asset classes*. This
provides us with the level of in-depth
information required to change and
adapt the funds to reflect the broader
environment, while ensuring that they
still remain in line with the objectives
of investors.’
Schroders’ Multi-Manager Diversity
Range offers six investment options
which have been designed to reflect a
broad range of investment aspirations
and risk attitudes. ‘Each fund has a
different target and we aim to deliver
returns with less volatility than other
similar funds in the market, although
this is not guaranteed,’ says Marcus.
‘To meet the needs of different
investors, the funds differ in the
balance of shares, bonds and other
investments that they contain.
But otherwise they’re managed in
the same way by our expert fund
management team. We focus on
balancing the portfolio to suit the
prevailing market environment and
selecting fund managers from across
the whole of the market with the
potential to offer strong returns –
although again we can’t of course
guarantee that these will be achieved.’
‘Our investment process incorporates
diversified investment strategies
within a flexible fund framework
which allows us to implement our
economic views effectively,’ says
Robin. ‘We invest with a broad range
of fund managers across equities,
bonds and alternative asset classes
such as property and commodities.
Our aim is to select strategies from
leading managers across the fund
management industry on the basis
of our assessment of their ability to
do well in the prevailing investment
environment.’
Marcus is keen to stress the
importance of active asset allocation
to the process, ‘We believe that
changing the balance of a portfolio
to reflect the prevailing environment
has the potential to add significant
value,’ he says. ‘For this reason, we
take an active approach to selecting
the markets we invest in within a
framework that aims to ensure that
risks are appropriately controlled.’
SO WHAT ARE THE TEAM’S
CURRENT VIEWS ON THE
ECONOMIC AND MARKET
OUTLOOK?
‘This does not feel like a market to be
chased,’ says Marcus. ‘The early signs
of market action in October suggest a
period of greater volatility as investors
adjust to diverging global monetary
policy. We continue to see relatively
limited opportunities at these broad
market levels. This has manifested
ALL-SEASON INVESTMENT SOLUTIONS -THE SCHRODER MULTI-MANAGER
DIVERSITY RANGEBY MARCUS BROOKS AND ROBIN MCDONALD
