The Waverton Sterling Bond fund attracted the most interest from advisers using Square Mile’s Academy of Funds in the second quarter of 2023.
The strategy, which is a top quartile performer in the IA Sterling Strategic Bond sector over three and five years, was the most viewed actively-managed fund on the platform.
Square Mile’s latest Market Intelligence research found that funds prioritising capital accumulation continue to receive the most interest among advisers, accounting for 50.9% of all searches on the platform. It marked a 5.9% increase on views for the investment outcome in Q1.
Inflation protection searches ‘barely register’
The quarterly report maps viewing patterns from advisers using Square Mile’s Academy of Funds and its ‘Funds Dashboard’.
Income (35.8%) funds also drew considerable interest, while searches for both capital preservation (9.4%) and inflation protection (3.8%) waned.
Scott Dakers, Square Mile business development director, said: “Inflation continues to be a dominant topic in our conversations with fund managers, so it is interesting that advisers are increasingly researching strategies that have the potential of delivering capital accumulation, while inflation protection, at 3.8% of searches barely registered last quarter.
“This could be a result of the performance of equity markets which has been broadly positive year to date, and a desire to benefit from the returns of our rated funds that promise capital growth over the longer term.”
Companies
By asset class, advisers viewed equities the most with over half of searches, while fixed income drew in 26.3%.
Meanwhile, Baillie Gifford was the most-searched fund group, surpassing Jupiter, who attracted the most searches in the first three months of the year. First Sentier Investors, Schroders and BNY Mellon were among other groups drawing attention from advisers.
Dakers added: “Significant uncertainties persist, from stubbornly high inflation and tightening interest rates, to fears of recession, to geo-political risk, arising not only from the war in Ukraine but also from an increasingly bellicose stance in China.
“This backdrop makes fund selection more important – and challenging – than ever. It is essential to identify those fund managers with the skill set to navigate this complex market environment, ignoring short-term noise to remain focused on delivering on their long-term investment objectives.”
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