Interactive Investor

ii ACE 40 investments:
Fundsmith Sustainable Equity Fund

ii Ace 40
Asset GroupAsset Sub-GroupInvestment Category
EquitiesGlobal equitiesAdventurous

Why we recommend it

Experienced and well-resourced manager: Terry Smith, founder and chief investment officer of Fundsmith, has managed the fund since its launch in November 2017.

Well-defined approach: The fund adopts similar investment principles to the better-known Fundsmith Equity fund but excludes specific companies and sectors from its investment universe.

Superior performance: In its short history, the fund has outperformed the average return of funds in the Investment Association’s Global sector.

Ethical criteria

ii ACE ethical style: Considers. This means the fund carefully considers an often wide range of ethical and/ or environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues or themes when balancing positive and negative factors.

Fund EcoMarket category: Sustainability Tilted. These funds integrate sustainability considerations into their investment process in order to help to make better investment decisions but investments are not driven by sustainability themes. These funds may invest in most company types and may be ‘overweight’ in companies with higher standards and ‘underweight’ in companies with poor practices – rather than necessarily excluding them. They may work to encourage more sustainable business practices through stewardship activity.

How the fund is managed: The investment objective of the fund is to achieve long-term growth in value. It will not invest in businesses that have substantial interests in any of the following sectors: Aerospace and Defence, Brewers, Distillers and Vintners, Casinos and Gaming, Gas and Electric Utilities, Metals and Mining, Oil, Gas and Consumable Fuels, Pornography, and Tobacco. In addition, further criteria are applied to screen investments in accordance with the authorised corporate director’s sustainable investment policy.

The risks

Ethical screening: In certain market conditions, the performance of the fund may differ from others in the peer group that do not exclude specific sectors or companies from a comparable investment universe.

Portfolio concentration: The fund has a concentrated portfolio compared with most globally oriented equity funds, typically holding around 25 stocks.

It is more expensive than peers: The “I” accumulation share class levies annual ongoing charges of 1.05%.

Currency: The fund invests predominantly in non-sterling quoted assets, which may be significantly affected by changes in exchange rates.

Information and data compiled to October 2020.

Risk warnings

The information we provide in the ACE 40 investments list does not constitute a "personal recommendation". You should ensure that any investment decisions you make are suitable for your personal circumstances and that the ethical style of the investment reflects your personal beliefs.

Past performance of the underlying constituents is not a guarantee of future performance. Remember, the value of investments, and any income from them, can fall as well as rise so you could get back less than you invest.

Annual performance can be found on the factsheet of each fund, trust or ETF. Simply click on the asset’s name and then the performance tab.

If you are unsure about the suitability of a particular investment or think that you need a personal recommendation, you should speak to a suitably qualified financial advisor.

Any changes to the ii ACE 40 investments list and the rationale behind those decisions will be communicated through the Quarterly Investment Outlook.

Details of all recommendations issued by ii during the previous 12 month period can be found here.

ii adheres to a strict code of conduct. Members of ii staff may hold shares in companies mentioned in the ii ACE 40 investments list, which could create a conflict of interest. Any member of staff intending to complete some research about any financial instrument in which they have an interest are required to disclose such interest to ii. We will at all times consider whether such interest impairs the objectivity of the recommendation.

In addition, staff involved in the production of this ii ACE 40 list are subject to a personal account dealing restriction. This prevents them from placing a transaction in the specified instrument(s) for five working days before and after an investment is included or amended and made public within the list. This is to avoid personal interests conflicting with the interests of the recipients of this ii ACE 40 investments list.