With the new ISA and pension year nearly upon us, I’ve been reviewing global funds.

I’m probably at the limit of how much I’m comfortable having in global index trackers (over £600k across portfolios), while my active positions are also nearing my personal threshold. Yet I am going to have £100k to find a home for in the coming weeks.

What surprises me is how few global funds actually appeal to me anymore. I used to feel like a kid in a sweet shop, but now most seem to fall into one of two categories:

1. Rubbish performance for years, but suddenly looking good
2. Used to be good, but now delivering rubbish performance

It feels like almost every fund is just a bet on a specific factor - growth, quality, or value - rather than a true core fund where the managers are taking a balanced, sensible approach.

The funds that have had a strong run in recent years are often just heavily overweight the things I already have a lot of in the index. I hold Schroder Global Equity, which has served me well, but it’s crept from around 60% US exposure to 75%. JGGI is another example - whilst an index fund has 20% in M7 stocks, they have 20% in 4 of them. Which means I'd be more concentrated, rather than more diversified.

The few potential exceptions have their own issues. Latitude Global caught my eye a few years ago as being style agnostic, but I refuse to pay a 1.27% OCF. Royal London Global Equity Select was stellar… until the team left. I already have a decent chunk in the Vanguard-badged version of Wellington Global Stewards which I like but keen not to overcommit (at about £140k currently).

Then there are funds where the managers seem to be doing some dumb stuff - like one with a 9% allocation to a stock that had already risen over 500% in a year, only to drop 40% in the past few weeks.

I know this is turning into a bit of a rant, but is there anyone actually running a well-balanced core global fund with reasonable valuations that isn't just a bet on a factor? To me an active fund is NOT to outperform the index, but to reduce my risk and most I see simply will increase it.

At this point, I’ve narrowed it down to either a couple of equity income funds or just accepting lower returns by going into a multi-asset fund for the sake of diversification.

Would love to hear if anyone else is thinking the same - or has found something that still makes sense.

Yes I think you may have missed something!

I have a global equity index core, with a few select actives. That's been the case for some time now - 3 years.

I completely gave up on the idea of actives to "outperform" as I simply don't believe it's possible for me to pick winners in advance over a long timeframe. However I feel there is a role for actives to play when it comes to reducing risk, even if this is purely psychological.

As above, I feel I have enough in global equity index funds given the current size of portfolio which has increased exponentially, yet I will have £100k to deploy in the coming weeks with new ISA and tax allowances.

Usually I'd just add to existing holdings but the equity ones largely feel "maxed out" to me (particularly in my SIPP) hence exploring whether there's anything else sensible/boring/steady to put new monies into.

With Trump tariffs, expect inflation With Europe borrowing a shed load of money to rearm expect inflation. Might be a good idea to invest in some form of inflation protection with your £100k.

Thanks Gary, interesting suggestions.

An active infra IT just isn't for me, for 2 core reasons. 1 is not having the time to investigate them and be certain I've made a good decision (2nd guessing was always my worst enemy picking actives). It's not a buy and forget. And 2 my business does well if infra PE does well - the opposite applies too! So I am already intrinsically tied to the sector, therefore would see having a big chunk invested as additional risk (rightly or wrongly).

The Meon fund has done well hasn't it! I'd personally have no reason to buy that other than performance chasing really though - unknown fund shop, tiny fund, short track record etc. I look at it and go "would I buy and forget this and just check in once a year" and sadly land on a no.

Great suggestions though, thanks!

If wanting to 1) reduce risk 2) lean towards income and 3) consider managed, how about Black Rock My Map 4 Select Income (not the same as the regular My Map 4)?
Short-ish track record but am considering as medium term hold as it actively manages the allocations.