First State - Global opportunities
This investment fund features in our Adventure Portfolio. The First State Global Opportunities Fund is one of the top performing funds in the global equity sector. It has the ability to invest in virtually any size company across the globe.
The investment fund is managed by the talented Habib Subjally.
Habib Subjally joined First State Investments in April 2006 as Head of Global Equities. Habib previously held roles as the Head of Small & Mid Cap Research at Credit Suisse Europe and Head of the Global Equities team at INVESCO Asset Management. Prior to this, Habib worked at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (formerly Mercury Asset Management), where, as the Head of North American and Global Equities Research, he developed and managed the concentrated global equity product including the Mercury Global Titans Fund. Habib commenced his career as a Chartered Accountant specialising in the insurance industry at Ernst & Young.Habib holds a BSc (Hons) from the London School of Economics and is also a Chartered Accountant and ASIP.
First State Investments is a specialist asset management business, which is focused on developing and managing innovative investment products. First State is the UK asset management arm of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which has approximately £60 billion under management.
Why we like this investment and what we expect
The First State Global Opportunities Fund has the ability to invest in any market and in any company (regardless of size) in the world. A loose mandate like this gives talented funds the freedom they require to produce exceptional growth.
Habib Subjally and his expert team have successfully out-performed the global growth sector by 20% and produced returns of 50% over the last 5 years. This fund is at the higher end of the risk spectrum however and has experienced wild swings in performance. As part of the overall portfolio it is balanced out by some of the lower risk equity funds being suggested. The fund holds over 20% of its assets in the global financial sector, which is generally considered undervalued, but also a little uncertain. Taking the long-term view, it could be one of the most profitable sectors. The fund also has large holdings in sectors such as consumer products and basic materials.
Long-only global equity funds all suffer from high volatility as they track levels of global equities. This high volatility is not always for the faint hearted; however, we expect this fund to out-perform a UK-only based equity fund in the long term (5 – 7 years). We expect the fund to closely track the performance of MSCI World Index and remain a top-performing fund in the global growth sector. We have every faith that the fund will be able to achieve our expectations; nevertheless, if the fund is underperforming or we would like to adjust our investment approach, we will not hesitate to replace the fund.
Due to the risk associated to this investment we are expecting strong returns well in excess of the Global Growth sector during normal market conditions, but equally do not expect the fund to perform well on downward swings.
The underlying fund charges 1.15%. Sterling’s charge is in addition.
Fund Manager Factsheet (PDF)Fund Prospectus (PDF)
