In a tough market, some fund managers "have developed strategies to maintain the investor's equivalent of the stiff upper lip", says FT's Matthew Vincent. One is Charles Heenan, manager of the Kennox Asset Management Strategic Value Fund.
The £66m fund, which has returned 48% since July 2007, compared to a 12% rise in its benchmark, takes a contrarian stance, trimming holdings when prices rise. "Conversely, when prices fall and the margin widens, they buy." With only 26 holdings (from UK retailer Tesco to small Hong Kong electronics subcontractor Fujikon), Heenan seeks out unloved firms that are "structurally sound and with healthy cash flows", says Patrick Collinson in Fund Strategy. With all his equity wealth in the fund, Heenan shared his investors' relief that during the financial crisis in 2008 "we were essentially flat".
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Kennox Strategic Value top holdings
| Munich Reinsurance | 4.7 |
| Swisscom | 4.6 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 4.3 |
| Tesco Plc | 4.2 |
| ETFS Physical Swiss Gold | 4.1 |
| Canon Marketing Japan | 4.1 |
| Sankyo Co Ltd | 4.0 |
| M1 Ltd | 4.0 |
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