Tom Walker
Manager, Martin Currie Global Portfolio
Manager, Martin Currie Global Portfolio
Tom Walker has managed Martin Currie Global Portfolio
since 2000. In an investment
career spanning 23 years, Tom has
managed portfolios in markets as
diverse as the UK, Europe, Asia,
China and North America. He
joined Martin Currie in 1996 from
Baring Asset Management in Hong
Kong, and before that spent six
years with Edinburgh Fund
Managers. He is also lead manager
of Martin Currie’s highly successful
North American funds.
CONTACT
Visit the trust’s website at
www.martincurrieportfolio.com
This article is issued and approved by
Martin Currie Investment Management Ltd
(company registration no. 66107), Saltire
Court, 20 Castle Terrace, Edinburgh EH1
2ES. Martin Currie Investment Management
Ltd is authorised and regulated by the
Financial Services Authority whose address
is 25 The North Colonnade, Canary Wharf,
London E14 5HS, registration no. 119289.
CHOOSING ONLY THE
best global companies
In my last article for Taking Stock, I talked about the importance of globalisation for investors. I argued that for investors in today’s globalised world, the country in which a company happens to be listed is far less important in the long run than where and how that company derives its earnings.
The shareholders of the Martin Currie Global Portfolio endorse this view. In May, they voted to continue the Trust’s journey towards becoming a truly global investment vehicle, changing the benchmark from the UK-based FTSE All-Share to the FTSE World and thereby removing the requirement to retain 50% of assets in UK-listed companies. This was an evolutionary step rather than a quantum leap – they had voted to double our overseas allocation in 2007. In any case, investing in UKlisted companies has long ceased to be a play on the UK economy: more than two thirds of FTSE 100 companies’ income is now derived abroad. But while the UK is home to a host of world-class companies, it remains a highly concentrated market with limited scope for choice in key sectors. The 10 largest companies in the FTSE All-Share account for almost 40% of the index. The top 10 in the FTSE World make up just over 8%. As manager of the Trust, I can now take full advantage of the greater opportunities offered by global equity markets.
So what have we been able to do since receiving the new mandate? The biggest shift has been away from the UK and towards the US and Asia, but we now have exposure all around the world. As always, we have picked the new stocks on their individual merits, but we recognise the benefits of diversifying geographically. And the portfolio is much more evenly spread across sectors, so further diversification has been achieved in this respect, too. At the sector level, the main reductions have come in financials and resources, where the FTSE All-Share was particularly overweight; while there have been positive swings in favour of technology and industrials, where the UK index was light. A hefty increase in telecoms reflects the range of emerging-market companies in this area that offer healthy cashflows and dividends.
With a less concentrated benchmark, I no longer feel compelled to hold sizeable positions in stocks such as HSBC just because it is a big index constituent. Our largest holdings are now substantially smaller. Many, like our biggest position Apple, are global companies based in the US. Boosted by a weak dollar and their growth in emerging economies, many represent excellent value. But if company fundamentals warrant it, as they do in the case of Indonesian car manufacturer PT Astra, for example, stocks listed in emerging markets can just as easily take their place among our highest-conviction holdings. Our strategy for the Trust is simply this: try to identify the best businesses in the world, wherever they are based, and invest in those where we see the most upside to their share prices. The new global mandate gives us the widest possible scope for success.
This article is intended for investors in the UK and is for information only. It does not represent an inducement to buy or sell investments and does not constitute investment advice.
Your attention is drawn to the risk warnings, and in particular those pertaining to the risks of investment with exposure to gearing and single country markets. These can be found on the trust’s website at www.martincurrieportfolio.com under the ‘regulatory information’ section. Martin Currie Investment Management Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority and is a member of the Investment Management Association.
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