Author: AG Latto

Europe’s ‘hidden’ quality growth stocks.

32 mid-cap stocks in developed markets.

A large hunting ground for active investors.

Smithson has outperformed the Fundsmith Equity Fund.

There are more opportunities in Asia.

Digital platforms, consumer franchises & industrial consolidators.

A banner year for technology.

A Baillie Gifford fund with an eye on risk.

Growth stocks held in investment trusts.

A truly global fund that can invest in private companies.

US companies with potential.

A ‘benchmark aware’ active fund.

Going for mid-cap tech growth.

Trust in technology trusts.

A flawed decision-making process.

Smithson investment trust (SSON) is now 13 months old.

Allianz Technology Trust is based in San Francisco and invests in high growth tech stocks.

Lindsell Train is the UK’s original quality investing fund management group.

Smithson’s six UK stocks. Read all about it. From the April issue of Master Investor Magazine.

The recently launched Smithson (SSON) investment trust has released its first set of results. 

A look under the bonnet.

A look at the 33 stock portfolio.

A quality-growth fund run from the US.

A collection of profitable small and mid-cap stocks.

A revolution in human health.

Diversified, global technology funds.

Stock talk from the 2020 ASM

A look at the tenth Fundsmith Equity Fund annual letter.

The Fundsmith Equity Fund is now nine years old. At £18.3bn can it continue to outperform?

The Lindsell Train Global Equity Fund has delivered a 21.2% annualized return over the last seven years.

In June’s Master Investor Magazine I have had a look at the top ten companies held by the Blue Whale Growth Fund.  The manager employs what it calls “The Beautiful Companies Concept.” 

Lindsell Train is the original quality investment boutique.  The group has not been afraid, though, to invest in companies that are yet to generate high returns. 

The UK’s largest investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown (HL) is launching a new directly managed fund.  HL Select Global Growth Shares seeks to invest in 30-40 high quality companies.

On 11th April I had lunch with Blue Whale Capital. This helped to dot the i’s and cross the t’s on Blue Whale’s investment process.

The Blue Whale Growth Fund and stands out in a number of respects.  It aims to be “the #1 global fund in the country.”

The Fundsmith Equity Fund has increased in size from £39 million to £16.6 billion. The key question is whether the fund can continue to outperform given its size and fee structure.

Seeking to understand Scottish Mortgage.

Tech Trust podcasts.

Ben Thompson and Gavin Baker.

This time Brewin have hosted the Smithson Investment Trust – 27 June 2019.

Terry Smith discusses disruption, payments, brands and veterinary bills.

Nick Train talks brands, sports, education and being extremely bullish.

Johnathan Davis interviews Keith Ashworth-Lord: Picking stocks in the style of Buffett.



A strong franchise is a prerequisite.

Three rules for a funds portfolio.

Understanding the investment process.

Position sizing is as important as fund selection.

Potential core funds.

A Covid-19 vaccine and a rotation into value.

To invest or not to invest, that is the question.

New ideas require 20 minutes of optimism.

Winners and losers.

If many things can go wrong, something will go wrong.

The end of the beginning.

2020 Q1 earnings reports and guidance.

Gaming by the numbers.

What holds up well.

Some things bear repetition.

Fear of a virus takes hold.

Mr Market can move from optimism to pessimism in short measure

The information technology sector is driving markets; the consumer staples sector is stalling.

A good idea is worth its weight in gold. Its usefulness never gets old.

A look at what are known as The Four or GAFA stocks – Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon.

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have fuelled an investment revolution.

Fund Hunter doesn’t seek to be clever, it only seeks to be rational.

A look at why US blue-chip stocks have beaten UK blue-chip stocks since 2009.

What to do about the strength of sterling?

To get the best results, we need to use the best benchmarks.

InterContinental Hotels is one of the world’s leading hotel franchisors.

An investment trust AGM recently provided the opportunity to meet some investing heroes.

This month’s Master Investor article took a look at the two leading restaurant franchisors.

Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many – Phaedrus.

August has seen an uptick in alarmist market commentary. It is generally best to ignore the doom-mongers.

The payment sector has been one of the most attractive areas to invest in. 

The investment world is baffling and befuddling. Fund Hunter’s aim is to have a rational approach.

Quality investing is in vogue. But it is helpful to use a system to assess both quality and growth.

Investors need an investment default. It acts as a benchmark to judge other opportunities.

Professionals like to become known for a new term, concept or acronym. I am no exception.

The ETF industry has become obsessed with gimmicks. This is a wasted opportunity.

Good funds own good stocks. The funds run by Woodford Investment Management owned bad stocks.

In the 90-year period from July 1926 to December 2016 the US equity markets was driven by a small number of stocks.

I gave a short presentation at the Mello Trusts & Funds event on 15 May 2019.  It set out what Fund Hunter’s objective and the case for funds.

Fund share classes are confusing. But a few simple rules of thumb can make it easier to make sense of fund share classes.

Whether private investors can outperform investment funds (active or passive) is up for debate. But they do have one key advantage – the ability to selectively invest in the best ideas.

The Sunday Times today has a long feature covering portfolio disclosure.  A number of the largest open-end funds in the UK only list their top ten holdings. 

The Annual Shareholder Meeting (ASM) for the Fundsmith Equity Fund is a unique event. The wit and wisdom of Fundsmith is worth listening to in the flesh.

In the March 2019 issue of Master Investor Magazine (P74-80), I looked at high-quality European blue chips.

In a February 2019 article for Master Investor, I outlined the case for global investing. It has the potential to reduce risk and improve our investment returns. What’s not to like?

There are lots of fund myths out there.  The reality is that funds (passive and active) are the best investment vehicle for the vast majority of investors. 

There are said to be cat people and dog people.  In the world of investing there are stock pickers and fund investors.  Stock pickers can, though, use funds to their advantage.

Active investors seek to outperform an index and passive investors buy the index.  We tend to imagine active investors as being…active.  But some active investors hold companies for the long-term.

Funds offer a way to get rich. The two ingredients you need are a satisfactory return and time.