Flexibility is the key to the success of Paul Spencer’s fund, Rensburg’s UK Mid-Cap Growth Trust. Being able to change the focus of the portfolio has “served us in good stead,”he tells Investment Week. In 2009’s third quarter he moved from being “very UK-centric” to being “very-overseas biased in the portfolio”.
Spencer took control of the fund in February 2006 and since then has consistently delivered impressive results. Over the three years to February the fund is eighth out of 279 funds in the IMA UK All Companies sector, with gains of 8.8% compared to an average decline of 11.1%. And in the past year the fund is up 52.2% against an average increase of 32.2%.
The fund aims to achieve capital growth higher than the FTSE 250 index. At least 80% of the portfolio is invested in FTSE 250 stocks including Halfords, Spirent Communications and Wood Group. For now, Spencer has positioned the fund to be “very overweight overseas exposure and very underweight UK consumer discretionary spending”. The stocks he has in Britain are companies such as bakery group Greggs and pub chain JD Wetherspoon, which are “right at the bottom of the food chain in terms of discretionary spending”.
Spencer remains “quite negative” about the outlook for Britain over the next year. “Whichever party gets in power after the next election will have to bite the bullet and address the budget deficit,” he says. So he plans to remain invested in firms that make their profits outside Britain. “If you want a pragmatic, experienced and talented fund manager to look after part of your UK portfolio I do not feel you will go too far wrong with Paul Spencer,” says Mark Dampier in The Independent.
Contact: 0845-606 1402.
Rensburg UK Mid-Cap Growth Trust top ten holdings
| Name of holding | % of assets |
|---|---|
| Spirent Communications | 3.71 |
| Spirax Sarco Engr. | 3.60 |
| Chemring | 3.45 |
| Pace | 3.33 |
| Dana Petroleum | 3.33 |
| Micro Focus | 3.24 |
| SSL International | 3.22 |
| Aegis Group | 3.11 |
| Millennium & Copthorne | 3.11 |
| Wood Group (John) | 3.03 |