H&L Multi-Manager Funds

ulysses76

Anybody got any opinions on H&L's Multi-manager funds?
I was thinking of investing 4K in a stocks & share ISA using H&Lr Multi-Manager funds.
Their Multi-managed Income & Growth Portfolio Account has 10 or so funds including Jupiter,Invesco Perp,Artemis etc & their Special Situations Trust has Jupiter,New Star,Regensburg etc.
These all seem to be good performing funds individually so are they worth a "punt"?
Any input/advice most welcome.

Aegis

They're quite an expensive way to invest, as you pay the annual management costs on the underlying funds as well as the one you actually pay in to.

If you feel confident enough, you might want to just get in to some of the underlying funds directly, as that will probably get a return above that of the multi-manager funds.

Of course, if you just want to invest and abandon, a multi-manager fund is probably better than most options...

dunstonh

Ideal for the novice investor who doesnt want to research or doesnt have enough money to diversify.

I'm not keen on MM funds but prefer the Fund of Fund variation. Not that I would use it myself. I wouldnt use the HL MM funds either as they dont have that many funds inside them.

With £4k your choice is either a MM/FoF fund or 4x£1000. I would go with the latter but it does take a bit more research.

purch

Lee Gardhouse is a highly rated manager in the Multi Manager field, and his Special Situations Fund especially has been a decent performer.

As said above the costs are higher than individual funds

Also as said above the HL funds are not a broad based as some other offerings,and also more active, which could be a good or bad thing depending on your outlook and needs.

ulysses76

when you say fund of funds, do you mean one company's portfolio, like Jupiter "Balanced Portfolio" or New Star's "Active Portfolio"?
If so, would it be best buying from someone like H&L & getting the initial discount or going direct to Jupiter, New Star?
i was looking at investing 4K to use up my ISA allowance for this year & just leave it for a good few years rather than check every day to see how it was doing.

MrMicawber_2

Never going to be a very top fund because of the spread but if you look at performance it is there or thereabouts. I like the funds in with the exception of about one if memory serves correct. I actually like it because of the small number of funds. A bit more expensive but than a single fund because you are doing a bit of double paying but I like it. Having said that I don't have it and at the moment while I am interested I would also spend time going 4k x 1k - but if you can't be bothered to spend the time it looks as if you could do a lot worse. (I also like their special sits fund which invests in a fairly small number of top quality funds across the boeard - but I don't have that either).