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Not everyone has the time, resources and energy to research thousands of funds, investment trusts, stocks and other options available when investing this year’s Isa allowance.
Although for some people choosing a diversified mix of the right funds is important, for others, just making sure you have saved something before the deadline is hard enough.
While there are lots of options for investors who want to do the research, such as the Telegraph’s own list of 25 favoured funds, some want to put their earnings in one fund and let someone else do the work of managing it.
Multi-asset funds, sometimes called one-stop shop funds, are tailored to investors’ risk appetites and make the big decisions on whether to invest in American or British shares, government or corporate bonds and whether gold is a good idea for you.
If you are looking for one fund to own this Isa season, Telegraph Money has three to choose from, depending on how much risk you want to take.
Cautious
For those looking to play things safer, Laith Khalaf of Hargreaves Lansdown, a broker, said that Troy Trojan is worth considering. The fund invests across a range of investments, including global stocks and shares, bonds, gold, and cash.
Managed by Sebastian Lyon, it has a focus on preserving your cash first. This means it should protect you better when markets fall, but will not perform so well when they are rising.
As a result, the fund has underperformed over the past decade, while markets have steadily risen, but over the past year it has made positive returns when many of its peers made a loss.
There is no such thing as risk-free investing and the fund can and does fall in value. “With any portfolio it’s a good idea to have more than one fund, just in case the manager gets their calls wrong, but Mr Lyon has a strong track record and this fund provides a good core holding,” said Mr Khalaf.
The portfolio currently has 30pc in American inflation-linked bonds, 21pc in global stocks outside the UK, 11pc in British stocks, 10pc in gold, 10pc in UK bonds and 18pc in cash.
Balanced
For those wanting to take on more risk, Adrian Lowcock of Willis Owen, another broker, said investors should consider Premier Multi-Asset Growth and Income.
The team behind the fund is headed by David Hambidge, who founded the multi-asset part of Premier Asset Management in 1995. The lead manager for this fund is Simon Evan-Cook.
It is a “fund of funds”, which means the portfolio is made up of other funds and investment trusts, rather than individual stocks or bonds. It seeks out smaller, less well-known funds before their potential is seized upon by the wider market.
There is also a preference for funds with a “value” style. This means they buy unloved stocks and hold them until they rebound. Similarly, it favours regions of the world and sectors within these that are out of favour and therefore have the potential to recover from low valuations.
It currently holds 71.8pc in funds that invest in stocks, with British funds the largest country represented. Around 13.8pc is held in bonds with the remainder in alternative funds and trusts.
Aggressive
For investors looking to take on more risk, Mr Khalaf said they should start by investing in a global passive fund. This will track an index of the world’s largest companies.
“It won’t ever beat the market, but it’s cheap, and simple, and if at some point in the future you think you can spend a bit more time looking at funds, you can always progress to active funds,” he said.
Legal & General International Index, which follows the FTSE World (excluding Britain) index, is his preferred option. However, Interactive Investor’s Moira O’Neill said if investors wanted to back an active fund, then the £3.7bn F&C Investment Trust is worth buying.
The world’s oldest investment trust has been managed by Paul Niven since 2014 and has more than half of its portfolio invested in American companies. “It is an ideal core fund that has just posted it’s 48th annual dividend increase, which provides additional comfort for shareholders,” said Ms O’Neill.
“This trust has seen shareholders through world wars, the Great Depression, the tech boom and bust and beyond. It continues to adapt and is the original (and one of the best) one-stop investment shops.”
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