Robertson, who is chief executive officer at the wealth manager, has similar thoughts to those of Rathbone’s James Thomson who recently told FE Trustnet that he had deployed nearly all of his outstanding cash to North American equities given the strength of the US economy.
Robertson (pictured) says he is using three funds to gain access to this recovery – two that are actively managed, and one tracker.
“I have been heavily in the US recently,” Robertson said.
“We have been quite optimistic for the US for a while now and we think that it is on the road to a self-sustaining recovery. Momentum has been with the US and also investors have been well-rewarded from the states recently,” he added.
Robertson says he holds Smith & Williamson North American and Threadneedle American Select within his own portfolio as both funds are well-placed to benefit from a strengthening US economy.
He says he is a fan of both funds' management teams, and takes comfort in the fact that both have delivered good long term returns.
Threadneedle American Select is the larger of the two portfolios, with more than £2bn worth of assets under management. The fund was launched way back in 1982 and is currently headed up by Cormac Weldon, who is head of US equities at the company.
According to FE Analytics, Threadneedle American Select has returned 126.47 per cent over 10 years meaning it is a top quartile performer in the IMA North America sector over that time. It has also beaten its benchmark – the S&P 500 – which has returned 104.37 per cent over the decade.
Performance of fund versus sector and index over 10yrs
Source: FE Analytics
However, the fund has been more volatile than the index and the average fund in the sector over that time.
One of the biggest criticisms of active US funds is that too many have failed to add value. Though the Threadneedle fund has beaten the S&P over 10 years, it has fallen short of the index over three and five. However, it has beaten the sector over those two time frames.
Despite the underperformance of actively managed funds in the US sector, FE Alpha Manager Toby Ricketts recent told FE Trustnet that he was chopping down his passive exposure in favour of actives, as he believes market conditions now suit stockpickers.
That could well benefit Weldon as he runs a concentrated portfolio of just 55 holdings with more than 50 per cent of his assets invested in the fund’s top-20 stocks.
His largest sector exposure is in telecom, media and technology stocks – making up 25 per cent of the portfolio. He also has a high exposure to consumer products, financials and healthcare companies.
Apple, Visa, Pfizer and Bank of America are among Weldon’s top-10 holdings.
Threadneedle American Select has an ongoing charges figure (OCF) of 1.68 per cent and requires a minimum investment of £2,000.
Tana Focke and Robert Royle’s £91m Smith & Williamson North American fund has a similar track record to the Threadneedle portfolio.
It has been a top quartile performer in the IMA North America sector over 10 years with returns of 123.79 per cent, and has beaten the FTSE World USA index over that time. However, it has failed to beat its benchmark or the sector over three and five years.
The fund has 72 holdings and its largest sector weighting is in financials, making up a quarter of the portfolio. Focke and Royle have a high weighting to the likes of Citigroup, NASDAQ and Berkshire Hathaway.
Smith & Williamson North American has a minimum investment of £1,000 and is slightly cheaper than the Threadneedle fund, with an OCF of 1.55 per cent.
Robertson says he is also using the iShares S&P 500 tracker fund as he likes to keep the overall charges within his portfolio low.
Apart from the US, Robertson says he has also put more of his own money into European equities.
“It is still a pretty small weighting,” he said. “There is still trouble rumbling away in the south of the continent, but I think there is still money to be made from Northern Europe.”
“I am only using the one fund: Blackrock European Dynamic,” he added.
He says he chose five crown rated Blackrock European Dynamic because of FE Alpha Manager Alister Hibbert, who has managed it since March 2008.
Since Hibbert has been in charge, the £1.7bn fund has returned 89.95 per cent, making it the second best performing fund in the IMA Europe ex UK sector over that time. It has beaten the FTSE World Europe ex UK index by more than 65 percentage points in the process.
Performance of fund versus sector and index over March 2008
Source: FE Analytics
The fund has boasts top quartile returns over three and five years.
Hibbert has a high weighting to European blue chips with the likes of Novo-Nordisk, Roche and Sanofi all featuring in his top ten. In terms of country exposure, his largest overweights are France and Denmark.
Blackrock European Dynamic has an OCF of 1.67 per cent and requires a minimum investment of £500.