Phoenix Unit Trust Managers Manager's Annual Report
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PHOENIX UNIT TRUST MANAGERS MANAGER’S ANNUAL REPORT For the year: 16 May 2018 to 15 May 2019 PUTM BOTHWELL UK ALL SHARE LISTED EQUITY FUND Contents Investment review* 2-4 Portfolio of investments* 5-13 Top ten purchases and sales 14 Statistical information* 15-18 Statements of total return & change in net assets attributable to unitholders 19 Balance sheet 20 Notes to the financial statements 21-30 Distribution tables 31 Responsibilities of the manager and the trustee 32 Trustee’s report and directors’ statement 33 Independent auditor’s report 34-36 Appendix 37-38 Corporate information* 39-41 *These collectively comprise the Authorised Fund Manager’s Report. 1 Investment review Dear Investor Performance Review Welcome to the PUTM Bothwell UK All Share Listed The PUTM Bothwell UK All Share Listed Equity Fund Equity Fund annual report (formerly PUTM Bothwell UK returned -4.25% over the review period (Source: Equity 350 Fund) for the 12 months to 15 May 2019. Standard Life Investments for the 12 months to 15/05/19). This is compared to the benchmark return -2.18% (Source: Datastream, FTSE ALL Share Index from 14/12/2018, prior to 13/12/2018 FTSE 350 Ex IT Index). The table shows how the Fund performed against its benchmark index over the last five discrete one-year periods. Standardised Past Performance May 18-19 May 17-18 May 16-17 May 15-16 May 14-15 % growth % growth % growth % growth % growth PUTM Bothwell UK All Share Listed -4.2 9.2 23.9 -9.8 10.7 Equity Fund Benchmark Index -2.2 8.0 25.4 -8.0 7.2 Source: Fund performance is Standard Life Investments, benchmark index performance is Datastream, FTSE ALL Share Index from 14 December 2018, prior to 13 December FTSE 350 Ex IT Index, to May 15 each year. This Fund was actively managed from inception to 1 April 2018. Thereafter, it was subject to a performance monetarism during the period of transition to enhanced index management, which completed on 31 May 2018. The Fund was renamed from the PUTM Bothwell UK Equity 350 Fund to the PUTM Bothwell UK All Share Listed Equity Fund on 14 December following a benchmark change. The enhanced index investment process is a low relative risk, active quantitative equity strategy. The Fund invests across multiple enhanced factors in a strategic manner, aiming to deliver consistent low-risk outperformance. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The value of units and the income from them can go down as well as up and is not guaranteed. You may not get back the full amount invested. Please note that all past performance figures are calculated without taking the initial charge into account. 2 Investment review Portfolio and Market Review period, the tracking error halved to around 1%). Three, to Although UK share prices were up over the 12 months, increase exposure to the quantitative multifactor alpha there was some volatility along the way. The stock market signal. This alpha signal is made up of value, quality and had to weather political upheaval and Brexit-related momentum metrics. uncertainty. At the sector level, shares in technology and We also conducted a rebalance on 19 June 2018. This healthcare companies were among the top performers. was a standard monthly rebalance, which we carry out By contrast, telecoms and utilities struggled. for all ‘Better Beta’ mandates. We rebalance on a monthly After a weak start to 2018, the UK equity market basis to refresh the portfolio’s exposure to the multifactor rebounded into the summer. Sterling weakness benefited alpha signal. companies that make the bulk of their earnings overseas. Turning to performance, value contributed negatively to In particular, oil firms were in the ascendency as crude returns in Q2 2018, as the Fund had positive exposure to reached nearly $80 per barrel in May – its highest level the factor. This was partially offset by some of our quality in four years. The positive mood was not to last, however. and momentum factors, which performed well. The UK equities fell back, as stumbling Brexit negotiations, positive quality performance continued through the the worsening US-China trade conflict and emerging- summer and autumn, as equities sold off. By contrast, market volatility dominated headlines. Nevertheless, exposure to the momentum factor had a negative impact economic data was generally positive, with better-than- on the portfolio. However, the tables reversed in Q1 anticipated GDP growth and lower unemployment. This 2019, with quality a negative during the strong market led the Bank of England to increase interest rates to rally. This, though, was offset by the momentum factor. 0.75% in August. As for active stock positions, an overweight position in UK share prices ended 2018 in the doldrums. As a Shire contributed to Fund performance. Its shares result, the FTSE 100 Index delivered its weakest annual climbed after Japanese pharmaceuticals group Takeda performance since 2008. The broader FTSE All-Share announced it was buying the company. Staying with deal Index also closed the year with a double-digit decline. activity, Virgin Money performed well after CYBG The prospect of a worldwide economic slowdown and launched a successful takeover bid. Additional highlights Brexit uncertainty continued to dent sentiment. UK included Barclays, British American Tobacco and Tate & equities then enjoyed a rebound in the opening months of Lyle. 2019. In particular, a more dovish tone from the major By contrast, an overweight position in Royal Mail central banks and optimism over US-China trade talks disappointed after it issued a profit warning. The combined to boost investor sentiment. In April, the UK’s company blamed declining letter volumes and failure to decision to delay Brexit led to further gains for equities. meet cost-cutting targets. Royal Mail scored strongly on The quantitative investments team took on the our value and quality metrics. A profit warning also hit management of this portfolio on 16 April 2018. Over the financial firm PLUS500. It had scored strongly across course of six weeks, we transitioned the portfolio to a value, quality and momentum metrics. Positions in multifactor quantitative strategy. We carried out three Vodafone, IG Group and a lack of exposure to Experian large rebalance trades as part of this transition. The also hurt relative returns. trades were carried out on the weeks commencing 23 April, 7 May and 21 May 2018. Market Outlook and Fund Strategy Each rebalance trade had three aims. One, to raise £300 The UK market faces various risks in 2019. These million at each rebalance to facilitate strategic asset include the global economic cycle, Brexit negotiations, allocation flows of £900 million out of UK equity into trade wars and fragile UK consumer confidence. UK other strategies. Two, to reduce the tracking error in line inflationary pressures have started to ease, with real with the new mandate (over the course of the transition wage growth turning positive. Along with robust 3 Investment review employment numbers and increased government spending, this is supporting economic growth. The uncertainty around Brexit means that investment spending is likely to soften in 2019. From a central bank perspective, the market’s expectation for interest rate hikes in 2019 has reversed. Similarly, US rate rises have stalled. The Fund’s strategy is to gain exposure to factors that are RIPE (robust, intuitive, persistent & empirical). These include value, quality and momentum. We also aim to enhance these well-established risk premia by using better factor definitions. For example, value is enhanced by using forward-looking metrics (e.g. forward dividend yield). We enhance quality by including companies’ capital expenditures and efficiency of capital utilisation. Meanwhile, momentum is enhanced by including industry momentum, as well as stock momentum. We do not try to time factors or dynamically switch between them. Instead, we aim to maintain a diversified exposure across multiple uncorrelated factors. The volatility of the Fund is similar to the index and beta is close to 1. The projected tracking error of the Fund is close to the midpoint of the mandated range (0.5-1.5%). 4 Portfolio of investments (unaudited) Investments held at 15 May 2019 Market Percentage of value total net assets Holding Investment £000 % UK Equities (15/05/18 – 87.77%) 90.74 Aerospace & Defence 1.40 1,668,256 BAE Systems 7,756 0.27 10,278,242 Cobham 11,748 0.41 2,090,119 Meggitt 11,073 0.38 1,241,537 QinetiQ 3,727 0.13 224,215 Rolls-Royce 2,053 0.07 15,919,265 Rolls-Royce Holdings preference Shares* – 0.00 1,844,515 Senior 4,161 0.14 Alternative Energy 0.08 204,763 Porvair 1,089 0.04 656,318 Volution Group 1,096 0.04 Banks 8.69 196,278 Bank of Georgia Group 3,209 0.11 10,660,434 Barclays 17,055 0.59 24,526,263 HSBC Holdings 162,585 5.64 105,309,244 Lloyds Banking Group 64,207 2.23 380,614 Royal Bank of Scotland 876 0.03 370,205 Standard Chartered 2,509 0.09 Beverages 4.13 3,586,123 Diageo 118,898 4.13 Chemicals 0.53 72,696 Johnson Matthey 2,275 0.08 137,724 Synthomer 548 0.02 539,875 Victrex 11,143 0.39 189,716 Zotefoams 1,142 0.04 Construction & Materials 0.69 184,396 Balfour Beatty 455 0.02 686,096 Costain Group 2,261 0.08 1,047,183 Forterra 2,984 0.10 232,013 Keller 1,640 0.06 234,899 Kier Group 802 0.03 12,289 Marshalls Group 81 0.00 159,163 MJ Gleeson 1,340 0.05 1,689,196 Redrow 9,713 0.34 117,747 Tyman 289 0.01 Electricity 0.17 1,524,229 Drax Group 4,996 0.17 Electronic & Electrical Equipment 0.82 1,167,218 Halma 20,771 0.72 80,466 Oxford Instruments