Savers are piling into funds to boost their pension pots at the end of the tax year and in time for new pension freedoms, with Neil Woodford and Lindsell Train's funds among the most popular.
As well as some more conservative choices, Hargreaves Lansdown figures reveal that self invested personal pension (Sipp) investors are also flooding into what the broker deems more adventurous choices like Lindsell Train Global Equity (IE00B644PG05) and First State Asia Pacific Leaders (GB00B54S3722).
Both funds are included in a list of fund suggestions for adventurous investors compiled by Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, as well as in the company's list of most popular funds for Sipp investments last month.
Mr Khalaf says the funds are suitable for those with: "a long enough time until retirement to be able to take a higher level of investment risk, in search of higher long term growth. Of course they must also be willing to stomach the twists and turns along the way."
Lindsell Train Global Equity offers exposure to a highly concentrated portfolio of around 30 companies. It is only four years old but has performed well, returning 29.3 per cent in 2013 and 16.41 per cent in the year to date. According to Hargreaves Lansdown, Nick Train and Michael Lindsell have also outperformed the MSCI AC World Index with other funds between 2001 and 2015, returning 309 per cent against 94 per cent. Lindsell Train Global Equity has an ongoing charge of 1.33 per cent but the managers also run an investment trust which is cheaper, at 1.14 per cent. We count Lindsell Train Investment Trust (LTI) as one of our IC Top 100 Funds.
Mr Khalaf recommends AXA Framlington Managed Balanced (GB0003509659), Ecclesiastical Higher Income (GB0009449710) Schroder Managed Balanced (GB00B1L2QB47) and BlackRock Consensus 85 (GB00B8D7RH96) for balanced investors. He says these could be solid options for "Sipp investors still looking for growth, but with more moderate volatility than a full equity portfolio."
Of those, Eccelesiastical High Income has been the most successful over the long term, returning 53.5 per cent over five years compared to 51 per cent for AXA Framlington Managed Balanced, 39.3 per cent for Blackrock Consensus 85 and 39.1 per cent for Schroder Managed Balanced. Mr Khalaf describes Eccelesiastical High Income as "a little known fund, with a long and illustrious track record."
However in recent years all these funds have followed similar patterns. Ecclesiastical Higher Income returns the lowest of all in the year to date and AXA Framlington Managed Balanced performed best in 2014.
Blackrock is the cheapest option, with an ongoing charge of 0.6 per cent, followed by Schroder at 0.9 per cent. Mr Khalaf says: "The BlackRock fund is one of the few mixed asset passive funds around. It is a balanced fund which uses passive investments to build a low cost, global portfolio of shares, bonds, property and cash. The fund bases its asset allocation on what the average balanced managed pension fund is doing, and typically holds around 70 per cent in equities."
IC Top 100 fund Newton Real Return (GB0001642635) comes recommended by both Mr Khalaf and Mark Dampier, head of research at Hargreaves Lansdown. It has a cautious method of investment with a primary focus on capital preservation, and is one of the few funds which has managed to deliver that goal, even delivering positive returns during the 2008 financial crisis.
It invests predominantly in a portfolio of UK and international securities. Mr Khalaf says: "This is a long running fund with an excellent track record of protecting investors while generating decent returns, and deserves consideration by conservative Sipp investors."
Returns rarely reach double digit territory but the fund has succeeded in delivering positive returns every year in the past 10 apart from 2011, when it fell by just 0.75 per cent.
Recommended funds performance (% total return)
| 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | |
| Lindsell Train global equity fund | 16.41 | 9.7 | 29.3 | 10.5 | ||
| AXA Framlington Managed Balanced R Acc in GB | 5.7 | 3.1 | 17.5 | 12.3 | -3.6 | 16.9 |
| BlackRock NURS II Consensus 85 A in GB | 6.3 | 5.6 | 12.0 | |||
| Ecclesiastical Higher Income B TR in GB | 5.1 | 6.1 | 10.6 | 15.1 | -0.5 | 15.4 |
| First State Asia Pacific B GBP Acc in GB | 11.0 | 22.2 | 3.1 | 21.0 | -7.9 | 30.3 |
| Newton Real Return A TR in GB | 4.5 | 2.7 | 4.9 | 3.0 | -0.8 | 9.3 |
| Schroder Managed Balanced H Acc in GB | 5.9 | 4.5 | 15.8 | 12.8 | -5.1 | 11.1 |
Source: FE Analytics, Morningstar, as at 7/04/2015
