Funds and trusts four pros are buying and selling: Q4 2026

The FTSE 100 has held above 10,000, but not comfortably. A global bond sell-off has brought some renewed volatility to markets.

At the same time, US equities remain near record highs, backed by strong earnings, although rising Treasury yields have taken some of the shine off.

With the Iran conflict unresolved and oil prices rising amid risks to supply, investors are bracing for potential turbulence.

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Against this backdrop, our fund-of-funds investors continue to take a range of approaches to portfolio positioning. They favour global strategies and funds focused on the US.

Each quarter, our multi-manager panel share their current bull and bear perspectives, along with the funds and investment trusts they have recently bought, added to, or sold.

Tihana Ibrahimpasic, portfolio manager on the multi-asset team at Janus Henderson Investors

Reason to be bullish: US productivity continues to climb as the AI investment super-cycle feeds through to both output and corporate earnings, with profit growth now broadening well beyond the Magnificent Seven into the rest of the market and across sectors. Record global dealmaking and resilient consumer and business spending point to a wider, more durable growth base.

Reason to be bearish: inflation is proving stickier than consensus hoped, with energy costs climbing on the Iran conflict and renewed Russia-Ukraine escalation, forcing the Federal Reserve to resume hiking even as the labour market cools, raising the risk of stagflation. With valuations rich and index concentration at record highs, the onus is on companies to deliver their expected earnings; any disappointment, or rates staying higher for longer, leaves little cushion.

Bought: Ibrahimpasic has bought the iShares Blmbrg Enh Roll Yld Cmd Swap ETF (LSE:ROLL), a commodity-focused ETF, designed to provide investors with diversified exposure across the commodities market - spanning energy, metals, and agricultural products - while seeking to enhance returns through an optimised rolling strategy along the futures curve.

It offers a cost-efficient vehicle for gaining broad commodity exposure without the complexity of direct futures management. She says: “It serves as an effective portfolio diversifier today, given persistent geopolitical uncertainty, elevated inflation risks, and the potential for a weaker US dollar environment - all of which have historically supported commodity prices.”

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Increased: Ibrahimpasic and her team have added further to their holding in the Stt Strt SPDR S&P500QulAristETF$UnhAcc (LSE:QUS5), a rules-based, quality-tilted US large-cap strategy that seeks to outperform the broad S&P 500 over a full cycle.

Rather than relying on a manager’s discretion, it systematically screens the index for companies with a track record of positive free cash flow and then selects the highest-quality names on metrics such as cash generation, low gearing and capital-light business models. The result is a concentrated 100-stock portfolio at a relatively low cost, with high-conviction weightings in durable US technology and healthcare leaders. “We like the defensive features this strategy brings, without sacrificing much upside,” she says.

Sold: she has closed her position in GQG Partners US Equity I GBP Acc (BN4GYH9)strategy, which pivoted from the value/dividend yield/low vol profile towards more growth-oriented profile. She argues that this “no longer represented a desired building block in a portfolio from an allocation perspective”.

Paul Green, co-portfolio manager at CT Global Managed Portfolio Trust

Reason to be bullish: economic fundamentals remain broadly positive and corporate earnings growth expectations continue to push higher. In general, equity markets have seen a modest de-rating over the past couple of months as share prices have lagged earnings growth.

Reason to be bearish: the combination of elevated fiscal deficits in developed economies, resilient inflation and geopolitical uncertainty stemming from the Gulf conflict has put upward pressure on bond yields, especially at longer maturities. This repricing of interest rate expectations is likely acting as a drag on equity valuations.

Bought: over the last quarter, he introduced a new position to the portfolio, BlackRock American Income Trust Ord (LSE:BRAI). It’s a US equity investment company managed by BlackRock’s Systematic Active Equity team. Following a change to the investment management team last year, the trust now deploys a quantitative approach to investing in large-cap equities, using Russell 1000 Value as the universe of its investments.

Green notes that the team deploy AI within their process to identify predictive and economically intuitive signals to assist stock selection. “Moreover, the trust pays an attractive income which is supplemented through reserves to boosting the dividend paid to 1.5% of net asset value per quarter,” he says.

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Increased: Green and his team have added to Pershing Square Holdings Ord (LSE:PSH) over the quarter. Managed by Bill Ackman and team at Pershing Square Capital Management, this highly focused US large-cap trust “has an excellent long-term track record”, says Green.

Often engaging with company management teams to unlock value, the team are high-conviction managers with typically eight to 12 core equity holdings making up most of the portfolio. The trust trades on a meaningful discount to net asset value and towards the end of the quarter, announced a buyback program of up to $100 million (£75 million).

Sold: as Green and his team reduced private equity exposure, they sold their position in ICG Enterprise Trust Ord (LSE:ICGT). “While we believe ICGT is a well-managed trust on an attractive discount to net asset value, we have a preference for ‘direct’ private equity trusts to give us more visibility on the underlying businesses, rather than ‘diversified trusts,’” says Green.

Simon Evan-Cook, manager of the Downing Fox Funds

Reason to be bullish: money is still trickling through the economy from the extraordinary splurge of AI infrastructure spending, which is not just tech hardware but construction, energy and physical infrastructure spending too. All this has a multiplier effect on other parts of the economy too.

Reason to be bearish: the property cycle is long in the tooth and starting to creak and, frankly, we haven’t had a decent real estate blow up in a long time, so perhaps we’re overdue. This would have repercussions throughout the economy.

Increased: Evan-Cook and his team increased their position in WS Havelock Global Select A GBX Acc (BFM7DN7). “We topped up our holding in this global value fund as our conviction in its manager, Matthew Beddall, continues to grow,” says Evan-Cook. He argues that the manager is building an impressive track record through the seemingly simple act of buying unloved stocks of different sizes and geographies.

Sold: he sold his position in Wellington Global Stewards GBP N Acc (BJ09MR0). Evan-Cook says: “This is a good fund that had done a decent job for us, but both it and the firm which manage it are (deservedly) large in size now, but we have a preference for smaller, more nimble funds, so this had to give way.”

Vincent Ropers, co-manager of IFSL Wise Multi-Asset Growth & IFSL Wise Multi-Asset Income

Reason to be bullish: despite the Iran war becoming embedded into a long-term conflict, the US economy remains a powerful global growth engine driven by AI investment and resilient consumers. If a solution were to facilitate a sustained recovery in oil supplies, inflationary pressures would retreat without requiring a sharp slowdown in activity.

Reason to be bearish: the longer the war lasts, however, the greater the pressures on prices, compounded by the strength of US demand, leaving central banks with little room to provide relief. Even with inflation under control, concerns about deficits reflected in higher long-term bond yields could ultimately turn economic resilience into weak growth. 

Bought: Ropers and his team added a new position in the MIGO Opportunities Trust Ord (LSE:MIGO), now managed by the AVI team they have invested with for years. After a few months of transition since taking over the mandate, this trust is now best seen as a portfolio of special situations in the investment trust sector, actively looking for mispricing opportunities and engaging with management.

“It is complementary to the AVI Global Trust Ord (LSE:AGT) we already own although the latter is applying their approach to a wider universe including asset-backed and family controlled holding companies and tends to invest in larger global companies,” says Ropers.

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Increased: Ropers and his team topped up their position in Finsbury Growth & Income Ord (LSE:FGT) during the summer. The position was initiated in March following the “SaaSpocalypse” that caused software companies to sell off sharply on concerns that AI will render them redundant. “This followed a couple of years when quality growth managers had a torrid time after a decade and a half of great performance,” says Ropers.

He argues that valuations are looking more reasonable now (on the underlying assets and the trust itself) and the portfolio holdings present genuine durable competitive advantages, making them attractive again.

Reduced: given that the newly added MIGO Opportunities Trust is heavily positioned in the infrastructure and renewables sector at present, Ropers and his team financed the position in their Wise Multi Asset Growth fund by reducing their sizing in the infrastructure basket they initiated in summer 2025.

These included International Public Partnerships Ord (LSE:INPP), Foresight Environmental Infra Ord (LSE:FGEN),Renewables Infrastructure Grp (LSE:TRIG)andHICL Infrastructure PLC Ord (LSE:HICL). “Discounts in those narrowed substantially over the period, in part thanks to realisations allowing [us] to anchor valuations,” he says. They remain attractive trusts and Ropers still holds them in a basket, albeit in reduced size to manage his exposure.  

The four multi-manager panellists

Tihana Ibrahimpasic is a portfolio manager on the multi-asset team at Janus Henderson Investors. Prior to taking this role in 2021, she was a research analyst in the team from 2018.

Paul Green along with Adam Norris became co-manager of CT Global Managed Portfolio Growth Ord (LSE:CMPG) and CT Global Managed Portfolio Income Ord (LSE:CMPI) on 1 June 2025. They have both been part of the multi-asset team at Columbia Threadneedle since 2016 and 2007, respectively, and have a combined investment experience of 35 years. The two investment trusts specialise in buying other investment trusts.

Simon Evan-Cook is a multi-asset, fund-of-funds manager with over 25 years’ experience in the investment industry. He joined Downing in 2022 to set up and manage the Downing Fox range of funds.

Vincent Ropers is a portfolio manager at Wise Funds, responsible for multi-asset strategies, using value and fundamental investment styles. He is co-manager of IFSL Wise Multi-Asset Growth and IFSL Wise Multi-Asset Income.