A core US fund that should be part of every portfolio

The UK market’s recovery might not be here to stay. America offers a compelling alternative, says Max King.

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John Deere is a growth investment for the JPMorgan American trust.
(Image credit: © Alamy)

Fund managers have always found it harder to outperform in the US than in any other market, which is why so many have chosen to invest via passive funds and exchange traded funds.

The US market accounts for well over half of the MSCI World index, but the intensity of competition makes it hard for anyone consistently to gain an edge. In addition, the largest companies have outperformed in recent years, yet fund managers nearly always tilt their portfolios away from the giants to allow them to invest more in companies that have only a tiny weight in the S&P 500.

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Max King
Investment Writer

Max has an Economics degree from the University of Cambridge and is a chartered accountant. He worked at Investec Asset Management for 12 years, managing multi-asset funds investing in internally and externally managed funds, including investment trusts. This included a fund of investment trusts which grew to £120m+. Max has managed ten investment trusts (winning many awards) and sat on the boards of three trusts – two directorships are still active.

After 39 years in financial services, including 30 as a professional fund manager, Max took semi-retirement in 2017. Max has been a MoneyWeek columnist since 2016 writing about investment funds and more generally on markets online, plus occasional opinion pieces. He also writes for the Investment Trust Handbook each year and has contributed to The Daily Telegraph and other publications. See here for details of current investments held by Max.