How many Fundsmith OEICs are there?

aroominyork

One? Yes, that's what I thought too, complemented by a couple of ITs (FEET and Smithson). I just found out there is a second fund, Fundsmith Sustainable Equity Fund, launched in November 2017 with a mandate of not investing in businesses which have substantial interests in any of:

• Aerospace and Defence

• Brewers, Distillers and Vintners
• Casinos and Gaming
• Gas and Electric Utilities

• Metals and Mining
• Oil, Gas and Consumable Fuels
• Pornography

• Tobacco.

It has £300m AUM and performance is very close to Fundsmith Equity, but it is not sold through Terry Smith's friends at HL, though ii does market it.

It has 24 holdings, many of them the same as the main fund, though I guess holding both funds could be a way to get a tiny bit more diversification. What do you think (eh, Prism)?

Aminatidi

I was going to say two as I know of the Sustainable one too.

I hold Fundsmith and if HL had the sustainable one I could be tempted but the "normal" one has done nicely enough so far.

Prism

Yes I like it (obviously) and its on my platform, Youinvest, but so far I haven't invested anything as I have lots in the main fund. To be honest I haven't added much to Fundsmith for over a year as I have been adding to some other stuff (cash, LTGE, Smithson). I quite like the overlap of Lindsell train and Fundsmith but at the same time they also have quite a few differences like Japan which gives me enough diversification.

aroominyork

Prism wrote: »

Yes I like it (obviously) and its on my platform, Youinvest, but so far I haven't invested anything as I have lots in the main fund. To be honest I haven't added much to Fundsmith for over a year as I have been adding to some other stuff (cash, LTGE, Smithson). I quite like the overlap of Lindsell train and Fundsmith but at the same time they also have quite a few differences like Japan which gives me enough diversification.

I don’t hold LTGE because any significant holding would mean my allocation to Japan would be in a very small number of companies. So I hold Fundsmith (and Smithson), LTUK and LT Japan. Although the styles are similar I quite like the complementarity of Fundsmith’s greater focus on B2B and LT’s on B2C. All I feel I am really missing out on is LT’s wrestling, speedway and Disney in the US and I can live with that!

However I have about 55% of my self-invested funds (which make up about 75% of my investments, the rest being in a workplace TDF) in the two companies’ funds/ITs and that makes me a little nervous. I might wind it back to about 45%.

iglad

I have Fundsmith, Smithson and LTG, which as far as I feel are a perfect fit for my portfolio. Some may say there's duplication with FS and LTG. They only have the same investments in just 5 stocks and LTG knows what it's doing with Japan. I have never been a fan of investing in Japan but LTG have the expertise and it's only a small holding, which suits me.

Prism

My wife and I pool our easily accessible funds (non pension) and between our equites we are 100% Fundsmith, LTGE, Smithson and FEET. Thats only half of that pool though, the rest being cash, bonds and P2P. In my SIPP I am about 75% from that selection, the remaining 25% being other funds.

There are not that many active funds I like (maybe around 15). If I felt any of them were not doing it for me anymore I would switch in some ETFs instead.

aroominyork

Prism wrote: »

My wife and I pool our easily accessible funds (non pension) and between our equites we are 100% Fundsmith, LTGE, Smithson and FEET. Thats only half of that pool though, the rest being cash, bonds and P2P. In my SIPP I am about 75% from that selection, the remaining 25% being other funds.

There are not that many active funds I like (maybe around 15). If I felt any of them were not doing it for me anymore I would switch in some ETFs instead.

Very concentrated - the kind of strategy that works for as long as it works, though for now (FEET apart) it's working beautifully.

Why ETFs rather than OEIC index funds as and when you switch?

Prism

aroominyork wrote: »

Very concentrated - the kind of strategy that works for as long as it works, though for now (FEET apart) it's working beautifully.

I actually fine with FEET. I am using emerging markets as a diversifier, meaning as long as it tends to move differently than my main funds its doing a job. Admittedly it could be doing a better job but so far it seems to work. For example during sep - dec last year during the general correction it was my best performing equity fund. FEET has had one really bad year (2016) which really set it back but thankfully I wasn't invested then.

Why ETFs rather than OEIC index funds as and when you switch?

No real reason - ETFs are cheaper to hold on Youinvest than OEIC funds. The fund fees are pretty much the same.

aroominyork

Prism wrote: »

I actually fine with FEET. I am using emerging markets as a diversifier, meaning as long as it tends to move differently than my main funds its doing a job. Admittedly it could be doing a better job but so far it seems to work. For example during sep - dec last year during the general correction it was my best performing equity fund. FEET has had one really bad year (2016) which really set it back but thankfully I wasn't invested then.

I’m not convinced. Everything's a diversifier from something else but you still want it to perform well in its sector. I’ve just charted 3/9/18 to 21/12/18 for World Index, iShares EM Index, FEET, Fundsmith Equity and Stewart Investors Asia Pacific Sustainability (where I have most of my EM exposure). FEET took a big hit in Sep and Oct and I suspect the outperformance you mention is only because of a partial recovery in Nov and Dec with non-EM regions taking a hit in late December. FEET’s record since launch doesn’t convince me that Terry Smith sufficiently understands the region.

Prism

aroominyork wrote: »

I’m not convinced. Everything's a diversifier from something else but you still want it to perform well in its sector. I’ve just charted 3/9/18 to 21/12/18 for World Index, iShares EM Index, FEET, Fundsmith Equity and Stewart Investors Asia Pacific Sustainability (where I have most of my EM exposure). FEET took a big hit in Sep and Oct and I suspect the outperformance you mention is only because of a partial recovery in Nov and Dec with non-EM regions taking a hit in late December. FEET’s record since launch doesn’t convince me that Terry Smith sufficiently understands the region.

Yeah the Stewart funds are better I think now with hindsight. However the 10%+ discount is putting me off doing much about it just yet. Lets see how the managers do.

I don't like the EM index much - too much China tech and finance for my liking

aroominyork

You know the answer to that... Would you buy at a 10% discount? If not, sell. But that's one of those easy-to-say aphorisms.