Fund of the week: the importance of pedigree
For Derek Stuart, manager of the Artemis UK Special Situations Fund, a board's pedigree is of the utmost important, as poor management can destroy even a company with great cash flow and fantastic margins.
"You can look at all the figures you like," says Derek Stuart in Investment Adviser. "But even a company with fantastic margins and great cash flow can be destroyed very quickly by a poor management team." That's why a board's pedigree is of the utmost importance, he says.
It's a philosophy that has served him and the £1.1bn Artemis UK Special Situations Fund he has run since 2000 well. The fund has outperformed the UK All Companies index by 120% over eight years. Back then, when everyone was buying tech stocks, Stuart shunned them in favour of unloved housebuilders. "He has displayed a knack of being ahead of the market through investing in out-of-favour areas," independent financial adviser Gavin Haynes of Whitechurch Securities tells Thisismoney.co.uk.
Given his historic performance, it would take a brave person to doubt him. "Stuart is undoubtedly one of the UK's finest stockpickers and has a superb record," says Helen Richardson of IFA Pantheon in the Daily Mail.
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Artemis UK Special Situations Fund top ten holdings
Name of holding | % of assets |
Royal Dutch Shell B'Ord | 4.10% |
GlaxoSmithKline | 3.90% |
BP | 3.90% |
Vodafone Group | 3.20% |
BT Group | 3.10% |
Cadbury Schweppes | 3.0% |
BG Group | 3.0% |
Unilever | 2.90% |
British Energy Group | 2.80% |
Cable & Wireless | 2.70% |
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