Our process starts with identifying the global investment universe of companies engaged in asset management services. Most of these companies are chiefly involved in asset management; however, we also look at associated services such as custody banks and stock exchanges. We analyse the universe regularly for companies which look attractive on valuation, return on investment, earnings sentiment and price momentum. Put simply, we are looking for good companies that are attractively valued where investor sentiment is improving and investor buying is occurring. For the asset managers, we add an important fifth criterion: superior underlying asset management performance. This process is designed to give us a portfolio of reasonable value, good quality, successful asset management companies with the potential to provide a shareholder return in excess of the broad equity market.

Stock ideas are taken from our screens and subjected to due diligence, centred around detailed financial modelling, to establish whether we have conviction to include the stock in our portfolio. The portfolio comprises 30 broadly equally weighted positions without reference to a benchmark.

Asset managers have a number of characteristics which make them particularly interesting from a shareholders point of view.
 

A key attraction of the money management industry is that successful companies can enjoy both very high rates of return on capital (not much is required) and a growth rate higher than the underlying investment returns as additional assets are raised. Overall shareholder returns can therefore be very high.
 

The value of assets under management globally has grown faster than the performance of equity markets. Since 1990, new investable companies and increasing personal wealth have helped grow conventional assets under management by 700%, versus world equity returns of 150%. We expect this trend to continue. An expanding pool of assets provides an attractive environment for good asset managers to grow.
 

For investors who are concerned about the fragility of bank balance sheets globally, we believe this Fund gives exposure to the attractive growth and return attributes of the financial sector whilst lessening the balance sheet risk. The average gearing of the underlying companies held in the Fund has been consistently less than zero (i.e. overall net cash).
 

Asset management companies often deliver high free cash flow, which translates into higher dividend yields on average than the broad equity market. The gross dividend yield paid by the companies in our universe of asset managers has been consistently higher than the MSCI World Index gross yield. (You should note that Guinness Global Money Managers Fund is managed for total returns, and has not paid out dividends to investors in the past. There is currently no intention to do so in the future.)
 

In periods of rising equity markets, asset management companies focusing on managing equities can enjoy a rising income without adding any new customers. They effectively provide a geared exposure to rising equity markets. So the Fund is a means for investors to capture higher beta during periods of market strength, particularly in equities.
 

A final interesting characteristic is that a successful asset management company can grow its business very rapidly if markets are rising and the underlying performance of its fund range is strong. To date we have had our best successes in the Fund by identifying and investing in this type of company.
 

If you believe that global equity markets are set on a path of reasonable long-term growth, albeit at likely lower returns than of old, and in an environment of rising global invested assets, a diversified portfolio of listed asset managers can play a useful role in your portfolio.