Royal Dutch Shell

Disruptive force

Simon Brazier, manager of the £2bn Investec UK Alpha fund, talks to Natalie Kenway about Brexit expectations, poor sentiment towards UK equities and his key holdings at the start of 2018.

Took over from Koch in October

Few companies offering 'margin of safety'

Look for companies exploiting new technologies

Large-cap bias boosted year-to-date performance

Hands fund to Rohan Murphy

"Pretty gloomy" sector outlook

Focus on high-quality companies

As more groups move to include ESG factors within their fund strategies, Baillie Gifford's director of corporate governance Marianne Harper Gow argues analysis in this area is too 'simplistic' and many processes are undermining the research effort