Fifty-four funds count the Ireland-domiciled portfolio as a top-10 holding – 30 more than the second most popular portfolio.
Other actively managed funds that feature high up the list include JPM US Equity Income, Threadneedle American Select and AXA Framlington American Growth.
Many industry experts claim the US is one of the most difficult regions to add value to as the market is ultra-efficient; therefore it comes as no surprise that North American tracker funds from HSBC, Vanguard and BlackRock are among the most popular with multi-asset managers.
Most popular US funds
| Name | number of funds that hold it |
|---|---|
| Findlay Park American | 54 |
| Vanguard US Equity Index | 24 |
| BlackRock CIF North American Equity Tracker | 21 |
| JPM US Equity Income | 11 |
| HSBC American Index | 10 |
| Threadneedle American Select |
10 |
| AXA Framlington American Growth |
8 |
Source: FE Analytics
Unfortunately, the $8.2bn Findlay Park American fund is soft-closed, meaning that investors who do not already have exposure to it will have to look elsewhere.
However, investors can still access it indirectly, through a number of funds in the IMA universe that count it as a top-10 holding.
It is FE Alpha Manager Algernon Percy’s third-largest holding in his five crown-rated CF JOHIM Portfolio.
Marcus Brookes and Robin McDonald hold Findlay Park American in both Cazenove Multi Manager Global ex UK and the Cazenove Managed Portfolio.
It is also a favourite with the Aberdeen Multi Asset Team, which includes it as a top-10 holding in four of its offerings.
Launched in March 2000, Findlay Park American has beaten its composite benchmark – split 50/50 between the S&P 500 and the Russell 2000 indices – over one, three, five and 10 years.
According to FE Analytics, over the last decade it has returned 326.56 per cent, doubling the returns of its benchmark over the period. The fund also has a lower annualised volatility than the sector over the decade.
Performance of fund vs index over 10yrs
Source: FE Analytics
Charles Stanley Direct’s Rob Morgan (pictured) says there are three main reasons why Findlay Park American has performed so well over the years.
"The fund’s management team has a very good strategy and through good stockpicking they have certainly been able to add value," Morgan said. "They focus on mid and small cap stocks which have provided it with a general tailwind."
"Using that area of the US market to construct a fund over the last five and 10 years has been very beneficial. The fund has also used cash at times to stabilise the portfolio."
"Those are the main reasons, but fundamentally the fund’s outperformance has come from a very good management team," he added.
The second most popular North American portfolio is the £723m Vanguard US Equity Index fund.
Twenty four funds of funds count the tracker as a top-10 holding. FE Alpha Manager Toby Ricketts includes it as a major position in his Margetts International Strategy, Margetts Opes Growth and Margetts Select Strategy funds.
BlackRock CIF North American Equity Tracker is the third most popular US fund, cropping up in the top-10 of 21 funds of funds.
HSBC American Index is a top-10 holding with 10 funds, meaning it also features high up the list.
FE Alpha Manager Clare Hart and Jonathan Simon’s JPM US Equity Income fund is the second most popular actively managed US portfolio, appearing in the top-10 of 11 IMA portfolios.
The £1.2bn fund has been the fourth best-performing portfolio in the IMA North America sector over three years, with returns of 42.98 per cent. Its benchmark – the S&P 500 – has returned 36.32 per cent over the period.
Performance of fund vs sector and index over 3yrs
Source: FE Analytics
JPM US Equity Income has a yield of 2.3 per cent, an ongoing charges figure (OCF) of 1.68 per cent and requires a minimum investment of £1,000.
Cormac Weldon’s Threadneedle American Select fund is the sixth most popular North American fund, proving particularly popular with fund of funds managers at Standard Life and Architas.
The £2bn fund is a top-quartile performer in the IMA North America sector over five and 10 years. However, over the short- and medium-term it has underperformed both its sector and S&P 500 benchmark.
It requires a minimum investment of £2,000 and has an OCF of 1.68 per cent.
Stephen Kelly’s AXA Framlington American Growth portfolio features in the top-10 of eight funds of funds.
While it has beaten the sector over three, five and 10 years, it has fallen short of its benchmark – the Russell 1000 index – over all three of those periods.
The fund’s short-term record does not make for good reading.
However, AWD Chase de Vere’s Patrick Connolly recently told FE Trustnet that this underperformance is due to Kelly’s high exposure to the tech sector – an area of the market Invesco Perpetual’s Simon Laing says will prosper over the coming year.
AXA Framlington American Growth has an OCF of 1.53 per cent and requires a minimum investment of £1,000.
The study highlighted that only one fund holds FE Alpha Manager Gordon Grender’s five crown-rated GAM North American Growth portfolio as a top-10 holding.
The fund is among the top-three best-performing funds in its sector over three, five and 10 years.
The £198.9m portfolio has an OCF of 1.57 per cent and requires a minimum investment of £6,000.
The previous article in the series highlighted the most popular Specialist funds with professional investors.