Is Fundsmith Equity a screaming buy for my Stocks and Shares ISA?
Fundsmith Equity has been the UK’s favourite Stocks and Shares ISA fund for years. It consistently tops the sales charts of the big fund platforms. Investors love manager Terry Smith and with good reason. He’s made them lots of money.
Since inception on 1 November 2010, Smith’s flagship fund has delivered a total return of 532.7%. Its benchmark, the MSCI World Index, returned ‘just’ 296.8% in that time. If I’d invested £10,000 in Fundsmith Equity at launch, my money would be worth £63,270 today.
Lately, Smith hasn’t done quite so well. Fundsmith Equity fell 13.8% in 2022 while MSCI World fell only 7.8%. Fundsmith is trailing this year, too. It’s up a solid 9.4% but its benchmark has climbed 11.2%.
A bumpy ride lately
As Smith himself often says, his fund will not perform in every market condition, so we shouldn’t read too much into recent slippage. While last year’s headline performance was poor, the portfolio’s revenues grew strongly and this should boost returns in the longer run. Investors clearly aren’t deterred — the fund is still topping the sales charts and holds a cool £23.8bn.
Yet it’s important that we don’t blindly accept Smith at his own measure (which I imagine is pretty high). It’s very hard to beat the market, year after year. Success can take its toll even on the sharpest minds.
Anybody who is aware of the medieval concept of the wheel of fortune and the circular trajectory of former fund management star Neil Woodford will be on their guard. Smith is now said to be worth £300m, runs his fund from paradise island Mauritius and recently ended up in the tabloids following a legal battle with his ex. There is a danger he could take his eye off the ball.
I’ve just re-read Smith’s July letter to shareholders, and there’s little sign of that. His underlying principles hold firm, even when making a public reverse ferret on a stock, as he did with July 2021 purchase Amazon, buying late then quickly dumping it.
I’ve bought the fund myself
But it’s hard to take issue with a man whose investment philosophy is to invest in a “small number of high quality, resilient, global growth companies that are good value and which we intend to hold for a long time”. That’s the Motley Fool principle in a nutshell.
Fundsmith has exposure to this year’s US tech recovery, as its top 10 holdings include Microsoft and Meta Platforms. These are volatile times for stock markets, and the US recovery may have run its course for now. With 66.6% of his fund in the US, Fundsmith is exposed to the slowdown.
Other big positions include Novo Nordisk, L’Oréal, and LVMH, so the risks are balanced. The fund is a good way for UK-focused investors to get exposure to big international names like these.
It’s hard to be a winner forever and Smith may struggle to repeat his stellar performance. Despite that, I recently bought the fund to diversify from my UK direct equity holdings. So yes, I suppose it is a screaming buy. Let’s hope Fundsmith will continue to give investors something to shout about.
The post Is Fundsmith Equity a screaming buy for my Stocks and Shares ISA? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.
Pound coins for sale — 51 pence?
This seems ridiculous, but we almost never see shares looking this cheap. Yet this recent ‘Best Buy Now’ has a price/book ratio of 0.51. In plain English, this means that investors effectively get in on a business that holds £1 of assets for every 51p they invest!
Of course, this is the stock market where money is always at risk — these valuations can change and there are no guarantees. But some risks are a LOT more interesting than others, and at The Motley Fool we believe this company is amongst them.
What’s more, it currently boasts a stellar dividend yield of around 8.5%, and right now it’s possible for investors to jump aboard at near-historic lows. Want to get the name for yourself?
See the full investment case
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Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Harvey Jones holds Fundsmith Equity but has no position in any of the shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has recommended Amazon.com, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Novo Nordisk. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.
