Gosling's Grouse: Cheap isn't cheerful

Investment is a balance between cost and return

Recently on a multi-manager roadshow that I chaired around the country, the four groups there all highlighted the experience of the underlying fund managers they gain exposure to through their portfolios.

Schroders' Marcus Brookes used the example of the Invesco Perpetual Tactical Bond fund, headed by Paul Causer and Paul Read, who have a team with a combined 478 years' experience. It is that same fixed income team that finds itself embroiled in a row with an investment trust it manages; Invesco Perpetual Enhanced Income. I am a simple man and this one looks to me to be purely an argument about fees, even if it is an argument about how aggressive the trust's board may or may not have been when starting a discussion about fees with Invesco Perpetual. 'Household name' asset managers b...