Macro funds in the firing line as top-down calls fail to pay off

Funds with a top-down macro approach have struggled to beat bottom-up stockpickers this year, with many dropping into the fourth quartile of their respective sectors.

Large and small macro-driven funds, such as the £968m Artemis Strategic Assets fund, Newton’s £172m Managed Income fund, and the £45m PFS Darwin Multi Asset fund are some of the names to have been affected as a shift in sentiment plays out. So far this year, macroeconomics has caught most investors by surprise: few expected bonds to outperform equities at the start of the year, while a mid-cap sell-off hit many UK All Companies funds that had upped their exposure. The unexpected environment has coincided with a fall down the rankings for many macro funds, with the above trio all fourt...