VT Chelsea Managed funds mark sixth anniversary with strong performance
6 June 2023 - Launched on 5 June 2017 by Chelsea Financial Services, the four VT Chelsea Managed Funds are now celebrating their sixth anniversary.
Designed as a one-stop shop for Chelsea’s clients, giving them access to the Chelsea research team’s most up-to-date investment views and fund preferences in a range of managed portfolios, the funds have continued to attract assets and produce good returns for investors.
Each of the four portfolios has a different client profile (Cautious, Balanced, Aggressive and Income) and they invest in different markets and assets via funds and investment trusts, all carefully selected by Chelsea’s research team.
Strong performance
As the funds mark their sixth anniversary, performance has been rewarding.
Since launch, the VT Chelsea Managed Monthly Income fund is the second best-performing fund in a peer group of 135, having returned 34.03%* compared with 10.16%* for the average fund in the IA Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares sector. What’s more, the fund has so far delivered more than £2,680 of income for every £10,000 invested at launch**.
The VT Chelsea Managed Cautious Growth fund, which is compared with the same sector, has returned 20.15% and is the twelfth best performing fund*.
Strong performance has also been shown by the VT Chelsea Managed Balanced Growth fund, which sits in the IA Mixed Investments 40-85% Shares sector. This fund has returned 31.09%* compared with a sector average of 20.44%* and is 28th out of 148 funds.
The VT Chelsea Managed Aggressive Growth fund, which is compared to the IA Global sector, has lagged the peer group average due to it being more multi-asset in nature than most of its counterparts. It has returned 38.14% vs 52.83% for the sector average*.
The consistent performance of the funds has been noticed by the industry, with the range winning the ‘Best Mixed Asset Small Fund Family Group Over Three Years’ in the Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards in the past two consecutive years.
Sam Holder, operations director at Chelsea Financial Services, commented: “We’d like to thank our clients for choosing to invest with us – for having faith in the funds at launch and their continued support today. Chelsea’s staff, friends and family are also large holders of the funds, so when clients invest with us, they know they’re entrusting their assets to the same place we are.”
How the funds are run
The VT Chelsea Managed Funds have a four-step process:
1. Examine the macroeconomic environment
The investment advisors start by looking at the world around them. “We focus on potential risks, turning points and opportunities that the markets may have overlooked,” said Darius McDermott, “this view determines the allocations to asset classes and regions.”
2. Build the portfolios
“How we combine funds is also very important,” added Juliet Schooling Latter, another investment advisor to the funds. “We look for those which have the ability to perform independently of one another. This means they shouldn’t all go up and down at the same time, which helps to smooth returns and reduce risk.”
3. Select the funds
When selecting funds, the investment advisors use both quantitative and qualitative analysis. “If we are considering investing, we always meet the manager to ask about their process, their team and how closely their interests are aligned with their investors,” said James Yardley. “A fund will not be added solely on strong past performance, we must be confident there is a repeatable and consistent process in place.”
4. Monitor & modify
“We monitor closely the performance of all underlying funds,” added Joss Murphy, the fourth and final investment advisor. “In weekly team meetings, we drill down into each portfolio to assess if each holding is still correct. Typically, we expect to back managers for the long term and will avoid unnecessary trading to keep costs low. That said, we regularly see new managers and we will replace funds where we find a better alternative.”
You can find out more about the VT Chelsea Managed funds here.
*Source: FE fundinfo, total returns in sterling, 5 June 2017 to 5 June 2023
**Source: FE fundinfo, VT Chelsea Managed Monthly Income fund, £10,000 investment, 5 June 2017 to 5 June 2023. Please note this does not include the final dividend payment for the end of June 2023.
Valu-Trac Investment Management Limited is the authorised corporate director and investment manager of the VT Chelsea Managed Funds. Chelsea Portfolio Management Services Limited is the investment adviser for the VT Chelsea Managed Funds.
Past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns. You may not get back the amount originally invested, and tax rules can change over time.