Innovation boosts returns

published 7 December 2012

Since its launch in 1982, the Henderson Global Growth Fund "has been through a number of incarnations", says Cherry Reynard in Money Observer. Formerly a technology-focused fund, for the last three years it's styled itself as "a growth fund with an innovation bias". The new investment style seems to have brought a marked improvement in performance; the fund is up almost 40% over three years and nearly 11% over the last year.

Manager Ian Warmerdam still invests in technology (Amazon and Cisco are top ten holdings), but his global focus allows him to invest in other stories, such as positive demographics in emerging markets.

Mark Dampier, head of research at Hargreaves Lansdown, likes the fund's expanded coverage but warns that investing in strong economies doesn't automatically yield strong results. "There is frequently little correlation between economic growth rates and stockmarket performance over short time periods. For instance, China's growth rate is the envy of many but the performance of Chinese equities over the past couple of years has been weak."

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Nevertheless, the fund's investment in "long-term secular growth stories" appears to be paying off, says Reynard. "There are currently seven themes ecommerce, online advertising, paperless payments, healthcare efficiency, the environment, connectivity and data." These have helped it achieve "the difficult trick of outperforming rising markets and keeping pace with falling ones". Given the volatility of other technology funds, this is the safer option for investors "who like their investments lightly spiced".

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Apple Inc	5.2%
Samsung Electronics Co	3.3%
Mastercard Inc	3.1%
Cisco Systems Inc	2.9%
Nike Inc	2.5%
Roper Industries Inc	2.3%
Hargreaves Lansdown Plc	2.2%
AZ Electronic Materials SA	2.1%
Wire Card AG	1.9%
Sirius XM Radio Inc	1.9%

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