Funds to Watch: What can Guinness Global Equity Income offer investors?

Five year anniversary

Against a backdrop of the ongoing debate about the Investment Association's yield criteria for the UK Equity Income sector, Ian Mortimer and Matthew Page, co-managers of the $147m Guinness Global Equity Income fund, have highlighted the benefits of a broader approach in this area.

"If a manager is trying to make 110% of the FTSE All Share dividend yield on a one-year rolling basis, they will be limited to companies in economically sensitive areas such as energy and banking, which typically pay a higher yield," said Page (pictured, right). "Many FTSE 100 stocks generate the bulk of their profits abroad, so a UK investor is basically limiting themselves to a subset of global businesses. "Being a global fund gives us a bigger opportunity set. There are about 500 companies globally which meet our investment criteria, with a good distribution across all market caps....