VLS / L&G / HSBC multi asset comparisons

tg99

Am going to be looking at these as options for a family member. I note VLS and L&G Multi have significantly higher allocations to UK equities than HSBC. A couple of questions for those who are familiar with and/or use these funds:

- in practice do the allocations for each fund - e,g, regional split of equities - tend to stay relatively constant (I.e. within tight guidelines versus the designated strategic asset allocation) or do the managers use considerable active overlays to move under / overweight as they deem appropriate? (From what I can see HSBC and L&G both talk about the active management overlay when it comes to asset allocation.)

- on the equity part, do the funds hedge overseas currency back to £ either strategically or tactically / actively?

- anyone aware of a good resource comparing these multi asset providers’ offerings?

Thanks

tg99

One clarification to the above is that for HSBC it is their Global Strategy funds I am looking at (Adventurous, Dynamic etc).

AlanP_2

tg99 wrote: »

Am going to be looking at these as options for a family member. I note VLS and L&G Multi have significantly higher allocations to UK equities than HSBC. A couple of questions for those who are familiar with and/or use these funds:

- in practice do the allocations for each fund - e,g, regional split of equities - tend to stay relatively constant (I.e. within tight guidelines versus the designated strategic asset allocation) or do the managers use considerable active overlays to move under / overweight as they deem appropriate? (From what I can see HSBC and L&G both talk about the active management overlay when it comes to asset allocation.)

- on the equity part, do the funds hedge overseas currency back to £ either strategically or tactically / actively?

- anyone aware of a good resource comparing these multi asset providers’ offerings?

Thanks

HSBC and L&G are more "active" in my view in as much as they target a Risk Level and adjust asset allocation to suit. Tends to be fairly gradual and overall Bonds / Equities / ANO split doesn't move a great deal from what I have seen.

VLS sticks at 60 /80% or whatever equity come what may.

VLS has always had a much higher UK allocation than the other 2 AFAIK. They are targeting UK consumers and presumably believe this is what their target market want.

Given that you will be spending in UK £ then the low UK allocations of the other 2 could be viewed as too low and introduce too high a currency risk as you allude to.

As for hedging you will probably need to look at the specific details for each of the sub-funds in the overall wrapper to find the definitive answer.