Oh, Terry

aroominyork

I watched the 2023 Fundsmith AGM today. Terry and Julian Robbins were on fine form. But the question of FEET came up and TS blamed its demise on the unpredictability of exchange rates, giving the Indian Rupee as an example. That was poor and suggests we should all exclude EMs from our portfolios. It's the first time one of TS's answers has really disappointed me.

mattywallace121

Why is it poor? He has highlighted one of the major risks to investing in EM?

masonic

mattywallace121 said:

Why is it poor? He has highlighted one of the major risks to investing in EM?

It's a poor response to blame the failure of your fund on something you should have known about in advance of launching it! Meanwhile other funds in the same sector have managed to navigate the same challenges.

Johnnyboy11

There was a point in the middle of last year where his Global Equity fund had lost half of its value in GBP terms. Add to that the GBP:USD depreciation which was around 15% YTD, U.K. inflation at around 15% and of course his fee, and there wasn’t much left of his investor’s money at that point. He made no mention of the near-death experience of his flagship fund in his video.

aroominyork

Johnnyboy11 said:

There was a point in the middle of last year where his Global Equity fund had lost half of its value in GBP terms. Add to that the GBP:USD depreciation which was around 15% YTD, U.K. inflation at around 15% and of course his fee, and there wasn’t much left of his investor’s money at that point. He made no mention of the near-death experience of his flagship fund in his video.

Absolute nonsense. Maybe you are confusing it with another fund.

masonic

The most significant drop in recent times was between early November 2021 and June 2022. That was about 18% in GBP terms. From mid-last year to date, swings have been no more violent than +/- 10%.

Prism

I was quite dissapointed to see FEET close in the end as it hadn't been doing too badly since TS stepped down from managing it. Played it too safe in the early years and was stung by the falling Rupee pretty heavily. Overall, even when doing OK it was just bouncing around what an EM index might have done.

aroominyork

Prism said:

I was quite dissapointed to see FEET close in the end as it hadn't been doing too badly since TS stepped down from managing it. Played it too safe in the early years and was stung by the falling Rupee pretty heavily. Overall, even when doing OK it was just bouncing around what an EM index might have done.

Just out of curiosity, what did you replace FEET with? Are still as heavily invested in the Smith stable as a year or two back?

Prism

aroominyork said:

Prism said:

I was quite dissapointed to see FEET close in the end as it hadn't been doing too badly since TS stepped down from managing it. Played it too safe in the early years and was stung by the falling Rupee pretty heavily. Overall, even when doing OK it was just bouncing around what an EM index might have done.

Just out of curiosity, what did you replace FEET with? Are still as heavily invested in the Smith stable as a year or two back?

For the time being an EM tracker VFEM. Flat in the last 8 months including dividends. Probably about the same that FEET would have been.

I am still over 50% between Fundsmith and Smithson but have a bigger allocation to UK funds now.

aroominyork

Over 50%, wow! I'm down to a little over 10%. I switched into the Sustainable fund to avoid Philip Morris when I got involved with a lung health charity, but I don't really understand why Meta fails the screen. 

SSON has underperformed many global smaller companies funds. Stick to the knitting?

Prism

aroominyork said:

Over 50%, wow! I'm down to a little over 10%. I switched into the Sustainable fund to avoid Philip Morris when I got involved with a lung health charity, but I don't really understand why Meta fails the screen. 

SSON has underperformed many global smaller companies funds. Stick to the knitting?

Yeah sticking with it. I popped it in the ISA at IPO and SIPP a little after. I haven't checked any other funds recently. There are 5 trusts and maybe 20 funds. I think it has performed better than most of them, and has beaten the index over that time. The Liontrust one might have performed better but not sure.