The Asset Allocator Podcast

Some investors might wonder what the point is of trying to outperform the US market when simply buying an S&P 500 tracker has delivered pretty substantial returns.But this week David Thorpe, Dave Baxter and Joseph Wilkins discuss the few active outperformers in the US market and how they have achieved this.They also discuss whether portfolio managers are losing faith in Japan, which just a few months ago seemed to have made a resurgence, and they discuss the pros and cons of using specialist tech funds in light of Arbuthnot Latham's decision to buy a semiconductor fund.The Asset Allocator Podcast is a weekly series aimed at discretionary fund managers, fund selectors and wealth managers, providing insight into the issues that drive investment decisions.To receive the Asset Allocator email in your inbox for free, sign up here.

The recent success of the so-called magnificent seven stocks has caused plenty of pause for thought so far this year.In the latest edition of the Asset Allocator Podcast, we speak to James Crocker of Albert E Sharp about why he's so nervous about the magnificent seven and their influence on the wider stock market.They also weigh up the impact of a looming shift in monetary policy to cutting interest rates and its impact on allocations.The Asset Allocator Podcast is a weekly series aimed at discretionary fund managers, fund selectors and wealth managers, providing insight into the issues that drive investment decisions.To receive the Asset Allocator email in your inbox for free, sign up here.

This week Joseph Wilkins and David Thorpe are joined by Jonathan Griffiths, investment product manager at EBI, to discuss the growing use of factor tilts and which ones he particularly keen on at the moment.They also discuss the AI boom and how he is approaching that within his portfolios and what he makes of the looming SDR regulations for portfolio managers.The Asset Allocator Podcast is a weekly series aimed at discretionary fund managers, fund selectors and wealth managers, providing insight into the issues that drive investment decisions.To receive the Asset Allocator email in your inbox for free, sign up here.

In this podcast, Asset Allocator chief reporter Joseph Wilkins, contributing editor David Thorpe and Jason Borbora-Sheen talk about the importance of diversification when it comes to fixed income portfolio construction, and how to understand the current concerns around sticky inflation and a higher-for-longer rate environment. Borbora-Sheen, who is a portfolio manager in the multi-asset team at Ninety One, also explains the "forces driving the higher sensitivity" between equities and fixed income, and why managers need to be flexible in their allocation strategies.

This year has so far been dominated by two-high profile examples of the rule at play: Ben Whitmore’s forthcoming departure from Jupiter, and Mike Riddell’s more abrupt exit from Allianz.Plus Peter Rutter has left Royal London to set up on his own and Peter Saacke has left Artemis to become a maths teacher (a career trajectory also being followed by Baillie Gifford's Torcail Stewart).On this week's podcast Dave Baxter, David Thorpe and Joseph Wilkins have a chat about this spate of departures and the issue of what to do if a manager leaves more generally. They also discuss the rush to small caps among some DFMs and where allocators go when they are feeling adventurous.The Asset Allocator Podcast is a weekly series aimed at discretionary fund managers, fund selectors and wealth managers, providing insight into the issues that drive investment decisions.To receive the Asset Allocator email in your inbox for free, sign up here.

Many investors focus on the ups and downs of particular countries and regions, but in a globalised world themes are becoming an increasingly important factor in allocation.This week, while David Thorpe enjoys himself in Portugal, Dave Baxter and Joseph Wilkins are joined by Natasha Ebtehadj who runs the Artemis Global Select fund, to discuss the themes which are driving her investment decisions.In this edition of the Asset Allocator Podcast, which is sponsored by Artemis, they discuss the importance of scale, how she views the increasingly crucial semiconductor sector and why she has recently bought a Brazilian bank and what that says about the interest rate cycle.The Asset Allocator Podcast is a weekly series aimed at discretionary fund managers, fund selectors and wealth managers, providing insight into the issues that drive investment decisions.To receive the Asset Allocator email in your inbox for free, sign up here.

One of the challenges faced by investment managers lately has been the relative attractiveness of money market funds, given the current macro environment.This week David Thorpe and Joseph Wilkins are joined by Peter Dalglish, Parmenion's chief investment officer, to discuss the pros and cons of these funds.They also discuss how he is allocating through a year full of elections and political risk, and they discuss how his fixed income allocations have shifted.The Asset Allocator Podcast is a weekly series aimed at discretionary fund managers, fund selectors and wealth managers, providing insight into the issues that drive investment decisions.To receive the Asset Allocator email in your inbox for free, sign up here.

One of the long-running trends in the world of portfolio management has been the gradual fall in average allocations to UK equities.In this week's edition of the podcast, which is sponsored by Artemis, Joseph Wilkins and David Thorpe are joined by Henry Cobbe, head of research at Elston Consulting, to discuss the outlook for UK equities. They also discuss the dominance US equities have over global equity funds and what alternatives there are.They also discuss the challenges of building portfolios for retirement in light of the FCA's recent review.The Asset Allocator Podcast is a weekly series aimed at discretionary fund managers, fund selectors and wealth managers, providing insight into the issues that drive investment decisions.To receive the Asset Allocator email in your inbox for free, sign up here.

The pros and cons of paying an active manager to hunt down outperformance are often hotly debated, and this week we join in.In the latest edition of the Asset Allocator Podcast, Dave Baxter, Joseph Wilkins and David Thorpe debate some recent comments by Sparrows Capital's chief investment officer that hunting down alpha is, ultimately, futile.They also discuss the legacy of Neil Woodford on fund selection, the large US exposures in allocators' favourite global equity funds and they weigh up the pros and cons of a Chrysalis recovery play.The Asset Allocator Podcast is a weekly series aimed at discretionary fund managers, fund selectors and wealth managers, providing insight into the issues that drive investment decisions.To receive the Asset Allocator email in your inbox for free, sign up here.