CT Global Managed Portfolio 14 December 2022

CT Global Managed Portfolio Trust (LON:CMPI) is a fund of investment companies which offers investors access to two portfolios, each with a distinct investment objective. Both portfolios are benchmarked against the FTSE All-Share Index with the Growth portfolio focussed on generating capital gains and the Income portfolio focussed on providing an income greater than that of the benchmark. The unique dual-share class structure provides an annual opportunity for investors to transfer between the Growth share class (CMPG) and the Income share class (CMPI) without incurring any additional costs or UK capital gains tax.

While the Investment Manager BMO GAM (EMEA) has merged with Columbia Threadneedle Investments, the trust remains under the stewardship of long-standing manager Peter Hewitt, whose investment trust experience spans across multiple decades. Peter is focussed on identifying managers that offer a diversified range of styles which demonstrate strong long-term performance over multiple market cycles. As discussed in Portfolio, persistent inflationary pressures and ever-higher interest rates have led Peter to shift the portfolios’ style away from more growth-orientated strategies whilst adding to those with either a value, more defensive or alternative bias. The portfolios are global in scope, however, they do have a geographical bias to the UK, at over a third of the allocations.

Peter maintains an exposure to long-term secular growth sectors such as healthcare, biotechnology and technology, as he maintains the belief these will be the long-term drivers of growth. As discussed in Performance, such positioning has proven accretive to performance over the long term. However, over the past 12 months relative and absolute performance has faced headwinds, particularly for the Growth portfolio.

The Income portfolio’s Dividend has proven resilient over the long term which has been helped by the income transfer mechanism between the two share classes.

We believe that the unique dual-share class structure and Peter’s diversified approach may provide benefits that are unavailable elsewhere in the market. The opportunity to switch between share classes with zero-cost drag on returns makes it an attractive investment vehicle to suit the changing needs of longer-term investors, with such flexibility potentially allowing the trust to provide a core holding in a broader portfolio of assets.

Over the last 12 months, Performance has been impacted, particularly from a Growth share class perspective. However, Peter has shown that he is willing to be dynamic with allocations to manage the shift in macroeconomic conditions experienced over this period. We believe that the more balanced approach taken, particularly within the growth portfolio (CMPG), may dampen the impact of further rate increases as inflation pressures persist, whilst maintaining an exposure to technology and healthcare sectors which may prove resilient in a recessionary environment.

In addition, the Discount control mechanism has proven beneficial by minimising discount volatility and increasing liquidity for shareholders. When this is combined with a resilient and attractive dividend yield, through the transfer of income from the growth portfolio, and the increased focus on allocating to income streams that may be less correlated to wider macroeconomic fluctuations, CMPI may prove to be an attractive option for income investors.