TROJAN GLOBAL EQUITY FUND: Winning growth wars with rivals

Investment fund Trojan Global Equity is dedicated to investing in some of the world’s fastest growing companies. It has a portfolio heavily skewed towards the United States and comprises many of the names that have thrived on the back of digitalisation: the likes of Facebook, Microsoft and PayPal. 

The £450million fund is overseen by Gabrielle Boyle, an investment director and head of research at Troy Asset Management, a boutique investment house that looks after assets totalling £16billion. As well as managing a series of Trojan-labelled funds, it also runs high profile investment trusts such as Personal Assets and Securities Trust of Scotland. Preserving investors’ capital is as important as generating long-term investment gains.

Boyle is fiercely proud of the fund she manages. ‘It’s a simple investment approach,’ she says. ‘I am looking to invest for capital growth by running a concentrated portfolio comprising some of the world’s most exceptional companies. We spend a lot of time identifying these businesses, do our homework, and then invest for the long term.’ 

The result is a fund of just 27 holdings with the top ten positions accounting for 57 per cent of assets. Its biggest stake is in Alphabet, owner of Google. 

Simple though the investment process may be, the performance numbers indicate it is highly effective. Over the past five years, it has rewarded investors with returns of 93 per cent. During this period, it has outperformed both the FTSE All-Share Index and the average global investment fund. 

Boyle likes to own companies which have durable advantages over rivals. These in turn can then drive their growth and push profits higher. It means stakes in firms such as Swiss drugs giant Roche (a leader in the fight against cancer with proven drugs such as Avastin, Herceptin and Xeloda), and PayPal and Visa (dominant in online payments). Indeed, healthcare and digital-focused stocks dominate the fund. 

‘We like to invest in healthcare companies which are making and selling products fundamental to our lives,’ says Boyle. ‘We’re living in a time of extraordinary digital change and disruption. As a result, we own businesses that are helping push this through, or benefiting from it.’ 

Among its other healthcare positions are stakes in US medical technology company Medtronic and analytics specialist Aligent Technologies, also US listed. ‘We first invested in Aligent in October 2019 after we visited the management in California,’ says Boyle. ‘We’ve since added to our position. It’s a company that provides the picks and shovels which enable advancement across a range of sectors – from pharmaceuticals through to diagnostics and food.’ 

Although more than 70 per cent of the portfolio comprises US companies, Boyle says their revenues are earned globally. She also says that all businesses are bought irrespective of where they are listed. ‘If you’re looking to buy into technology or healthcare, you are invariably drawn to the United States, Silicon Valley and the West Coast,’ she adds. 

High company valuations, Boyle says, are a concern and a reflection of the extraordinary times the global economy has recently been through. But she’s convinced that the companies she holds will continue to be global success stories, justifying higher share prices. 

The fund’s stock market identification code is B0ZJ5S4 and the annual management charges are 0.91 per cent. The fund is not suitable for income investors. 

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk