The special shares we have owned for over a decade

Gabrielle Boyle, fund manager of Trojan Global Equity O GBP Acc, runs through the qualities she looks for in order to own a collection of special companies, including naming shares she’s held for more than a decade.

Boyle gives her take on whether simply owning the global market will become less profitable in the years to come, outlines what’s worked well and which shares have lagged in 2025, and names her biggest reason to be fearful and cheerful for financial markets in 2026.

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Kyle Caldwell, funds and investment education editor at interactive investor: Hello and welcome to our latest Insider Interview. Today in the studio I have with me Gabrielle Boyle, manager of the Trojan Global Equity fund. Gabrielle, thank you for coming in today.

Gabrielle Boyle, fund manager of Trojan Global Equity: Thank you for having me.

Kyle Caldwell: So, Gabrielle, heading into 2026, could you name your main reason to be cheerful and your main reason to be fearful for investors?

Gabrielle Boyle: OK, well, starting with the fearful side of the equation, I suppose the reality is that in financial markets there’s always a lot of things to be fearful about. We operate in uncertain times, there’s significant geopolitical uncertainty, inflation’s sticky, the high levels of government debt, economic uncertainty, it’s a time of dramatic technological change, that all creates disruption and uncertainty, and we don’t have a crystal ball. So, we always invest with a view that we don’t have all the answers.

But the reason to be cheerful is that when we look at our portfolio and we look at our fund, we’re in a really interesting time because, actually, the companies that we invest in are very profitable, they are very financially productive, they are growing really nicely, and the valuation of the portfolio today, compared to history and compared to the market overall, looks really compelling.

We’ve had a difficult time performance-wise. It gives us a lot of comfort that there’s something interesting going on, that we’re able to buy these wonderful businesses at quite attractive valuations.

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Kyle Caldwell: In terms of things that are outside your control, the wider macroeconomic backdrop, how does that fit into your stock-picking process?

Gabrielle Boyle: So, the way that we interpret that in terms of our stock picking is that, look, we don’t know what the future is going to look like. So, what we aim to do is own businesses that are going to be OK, whatever the macro weather.

So, they are doing something special. They are providing a service to their customers, they are adding value, they have unique assets, they’ve got barriers to entry that protect those assets, they’ve got pricing power, they’re global businesses, so they are not just dependent on one product, one market, and they are well managed, they don’t have lots of debt, they generate lots of cash.

So yes, they’re not completely invulnerable to economic ups and downs, but they will prevail. We also take the view that if we don’t pay too much for them, then that will allow us to be able to navigate difficult times without being complacent.

Kyle Caldwell: Over the past five, 10 and 15 years, investors who’ve gone global and simply own the market through an index fund or an exchange-traded fund (ETF), will have done very well. Of course, there’s been some bumps in the road along the way. What are your thoughts going forward over the next five to 10 years? Will it be a trickier period for investors to navigate?

Gabrielle Boyle: Great question. I mean, you’re absolutely right. Global markets have compounded in the low teens. Whether it’s 10 years, 15 years, it’s been pretty incredible. So, yes, if you’ve owned the market, you’ve won.

It might not be quite so straightforward. The past couple of years have been very difficult for our active managers in a relative sense. There’s been this greater concentration and dominance of some of these bigger companies. Things don’t stay the same. We’ve been doing this for a long time and we know that things can change. So, our view is that if we can own wonderful businesses that are growing and reinvesting, and not pay too much for them, then, actually, you’ll be paid for that, and that’s been the case over the longest time.

Kyle Caldwell: You’ve managed the fund for over a decade. It’s a concentrated approach. There’s around 30 stocks held. Are there any examples of companies that you’ve held for over a decade that you still have plenty of conviction in today?

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Gabrielle Boyle: Yes, there are several examples of companies that we’ve owned through that time, so Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Experian (LSE:EXPN), we’ve owned the payments companies for a long time, and we’ve owned American Express Co (NYSE:AXP) through that time. It’s really interesting that the investment case for those businesses today is different than it was when we first invested.

But those companies have compounded their cash flows, their revenues, their earnings at very high double-digit rates through that time, and the returns to us as shareholders have also been in those magic high double-digit rates. What we find really interesting is these very profitable, growing, innovative businesses, they are reinvesting and that sets the seeds for new growth opportunities. We love if we can find those types of companies.

Alphabet is a poster child of that, but there are numerous other businesses that do that. By reinvesting their high margins and their cash flows, it gives them the growth platform for the future.

Kyle Caldwell: Looking back on 2025, are there any particular companies or sectors that stand out, that’ve performed well for the fund?

Gabrielle Boyle: Yes, well, so the tech vanguard companies, we’ve mentioned Alphabet, for example, has done very well. Also, in a similar vein, a company like Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (NASDAQ:TTWO), which we own, the gaming company, in anticipation of the Grand Theft Auto game, those shares have done very well. As I said, we’ve taken money out of some of these technology names on valuation concerns.

Interestingly, other parts of the portfolio that have done well include healthcare, which you wouldn’t necessarily have thought in this environment would do well, but our two Swiss pharma companies, Roche Holding AG (SIX:ROG) and Novartis AG Registered Shares (SIX:NOVN), have been fantastic performers this year.

Largely on the back of good drug discovery coming through, excellent financial operational delivery, particularly in the case of Novartis. The shares were very lowly valued coming into this. So, it’s kind of interesting that there’s been this bifurcation.

Kyle Caldwell: And which types of companies or sectors have not fared as well in 2025 that you’re still investing in and you’re expecting to make a comeback at some point?

Gabrielle Boyle: Yes, there have been. Financials is an area where this year, for us, financials payments companies have been relatively disappointing, and also financial information companies have been perceived as an artificial intelligence (AI) loser given the kind of environment that we’ve been in.

We remain confident that in both of those cases they are very interesting investment opportunities and we think that they will continue to monetise the opportunity into the future. So, we’re quite excited about the valuations of those businesses today.

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Kyle Caldwell: Finally, the question we always end on, do you have skin in the game?

Gabrielle Boyle: Absolutely, I have skin in the game. George Viney, my colleague [co-manager of the fund], has skin in the game. Actually, we’ve got more skin in the game now because of where the valuation of the portfolio is today than we did at the beginning of the year. So, it’s something that we take really seriously. We’re all at Troy aligned with the funds that we manage, and we’re all in.

Kyle Caldwell: Gabrielle, thank you for your time today.

Gabrielle Boyle: Thank you very much.

Kyle Caldwell: That’s it for our latest Insider Interview. For more videos in the series, do hit that subscribe button and please let us know what you think. You can comment and hopefully I’ll see you next time.