Ignis Argonaut European AlphaIgnis Argonaut European Alpha
This investment features in our adventure portfolio and is available by opening a SIPP, ISA or a investment fund account with our wealth management service. The Ignis Argonaut European Alpha fund invests in a concentrated portfolio of approximately 30-55 (maximum 60) shares from the European market.
The investment fund is managed by Barry Norris
Barry Norris graduated from Cambridge University in 1996 with an MA in History, and in 1997 with an MPhil in International Relations (with distinction). He also holds the CFA charter, the IMC and IIMR qualifications. Following graduation, he joined Baillie Gifford, moving to Neptune Investment Management in June 2002 as Head of European Equities. There he had sole responsibility for the European Opportunities Fund from its launch in November 2002. The Argonaut European Alpha Fund, which was launched in May 2005, is managed along very similar lines.
Ignis Asset management is totally independent and manages around £71 billion on behalf of UK and overseas retail and institutional investors.
Why we like this investment and what we expect
The fund only holds a small amount of the fund manager’s favourite equities. This results in the fund being more volatile when compared with typical long-only equity funds. However, if the fund is balanced correctly in the right sector and individual equity, the returns can far exceed that of a standard fund. The level of volatility in the shorter term is higher but taking a long-term view, the returns should outweigh the risk.
The Ignis portfolio is currently overweight in the financial sector, which has lead to some poor performance during the end of 2009. The Dubai financial problems and the sovereign debt issues facing countries such as Spain and Greece have left the fund almost 13% of its recent highs. Nevertheless, volatility of this level is expected.
The managers seek to identify companies with superior earnings potential relative to the market's expectations, that are attractively valued, and that have unrecognised growth potential. They believe that European equity valuations are at a multi-decade low and sentiment towards equities still poor. These management techniques have made the fund one of the top performing in its sector and have produced excellent results. The fund has successfully out-performed the Europe Excluding UK sector average by 35% and generated total returns of approximately 73% since its inception in May 2005
Long-only equity funds can be expected to have high levels of volatility month to month. However, we expect this fund to out-perform not only its benchmark of the MSCI Europe ex UK but also out-perform the Europe Excluding UK sector average, over rolling 3-month periods.
The underlying fund charges 1.1%. Sterling’s charge is in addition.
Fund Manager Factsheet (PDF)Fund Prospectus (PDF)
