Ashby: The 800lb gorilla in the room

As someone who has managed both global and UK equity income funds in the past, I am often asked what are the advantages and disadvantages of managing these respective portfolios.

The advantages of managing a global equity income fund are obvious – a wider universe of companies across different geographical areas, allowing a manager to select investments that are ‘global leaders’, regardless of where they are listed.  In addition, the UK equity market is relatively concentrated, both from a capital and income perspective – as was demonstrated last year when BP’s share price first went into freefall and management subsequently decided to temporarily suspend quarterly dividend payments following the Gulf of Mexico disaster.  However, analysis from Goldman Sachs...