Best Global Funds for UK Investors

The Evenlode Global Income Fund is a market-leading investment fund that focuses on selecting businesses with robust returns on invested capital, ample cash flow to fund their operations today, and dividend distributions for shareholders.

Launched in November 2017, the fund now covers 39 holdings across several industries, with Microsoft, Accenture, Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser, and Nestlé in the top five.

With an average five-year return of 9.91%, the fund aims to grow the dividend it pays, balancing its current income with the opportunity for growth.

With over 490 holdings, River and Mercantile Global Recovery Fund provides investors with an excellent opportunity to diversify their portfolios and gain exposure to a ‘value-driven’ form of investing.

The fund's manager employs a 'PVT' (Potential, Valuation, and Timing) approach when selecting stocks. This strategy seeks out promising businesses that are temporarily unattractive to investors but still have strong fundamentals.

Geographically, the portfolio leans towards value stocks in the US, UK, Japan, China, and Germany. With its five-year performance averaging 4.5%, the fund is well-positioned to provide investors with long-term growth.

Established in 2010 by Terry Smith, the fund has earned a great deal of attention in recent times due to its well-defined perks and guidelines, such as zero performance and account fees, no hedging, no shorting, and no index hugging.

With a 10.24% five-year return, the fund factors a long-term investment approach and targets high-performing businesses that can generate a high return on capital employed, businesses whose advantages are tough to replicate, and those that don't require heavy leverage.

Microsoft, Novo Nordisk, L'Oreal, Philip Morris International, and IDEXX Laboratories stand as the fund's top holdings.

The Vanguard Lifestrategy 100% Equity Fund is an actively managed fund that seeks to provide investors with a portfolio of shares and other fixed-income investments. The fund generally has exposure to shares of companies from a variety of regions, including emerging markets.

It invests more than 90% of its assets in Vanguard passive funds that track an index, with additional direct investment in individual shares. The fund’s trailing returns over a five-year period are 7.53%.

The HSBC FTSE All-World Index Fund is designed to provide investors with growth opportunities over a long-term time period, typically five years or longer.

To meet its investment objective, the fund invests directly in the stocks of companies that make up the FTSE All-World Index. While this is its primary focus, it’s also able to invest in shares of collective investment schemes managed by the HSBC Group as well as equity-related securities such as American Depositary Receipts and Global Depositary Receipts.

With a five-year average of 9.31%, the index has yielded fairly impressive results with over 3,000 holdings, making it a great option for those looking to grow their long-term investment portfolios.

The Schroder Global Energy Transition Fund invests in companies that are helping to drive the shift towards clean and renewable energy. At least 75% of its assets are allocated to sustainable investments with no exposure to nuclear or fossil fuels.

Led by energy sector specialist Mark Lacey, this fund focuses on achieving long-term capital growth through sustainable investments by targeting 30-50 companies in the clean energy sector. These include renewable energy producers, distributors, energy storage and efficiency solutions, and transport.

Schroder Global Energy Transition Fund seeks to capitalize on regulatory support and innovation, mostly in European and Asian markets. It also identifies potential opportunities within the small and mid-cap space as the clean energy industry continues to develop.

With a three-year trailing return of 16.3%, this fund is an ideal solution for investors looking for a way to benefit from the global shift towards renewable energies with no exposure to nuclear or fossil fuel industries.

The Vanguard FTSE Global All-Cap Index Fund is a passive fund that seeks to replicate the performance of the FTSE Global All-Cap Index, which consists of large, mid-sized, and small company shares from various developed and emerging markets.

By investing in a representative sample of index constituents, the fund attempts to track the performance of its benchmark without deviating too far from its investment policy. This strategy has allowed it to deliver a five-year return of 8.39%.

The Vanguard FTSE Global All-Cap Index Fund has exposure to over 7,000 stocks globally, providing investors with diversification across different sectors and countries. By investing in emerging markets, investors are also able to benefit from potentially higher returns due to these developing countries’ growth potential.

Its top holdings include Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and NVIDIA.

The most important factor when considering a global fund is assessing your risk tolerance. Are you willing to take on more or less risk than other investors? Do you have an appetite for market volatility? Once you have a better understanding of your risk profile, you can make a more informed decision about the best global funds for your goals.

Making sure you understand who is managing the fund and their respective track record can be a key indicator of success when it comes to choosing global funds. It also helps to understand what strategies they are using to achieve returns, as this could impact performance over time. For example, global funds that are weighted towards emerging markets may be more volatile and carry more risk.

It can be helpful to look at a fund’s performance over time as it provides an indication of how well it has performed relative to its peers and benchmarks. In addition, looking at past performance allows you to assess whether or not the fund is consistently meeting or exceeding its stated objectives while managing risk appropriately.

When evaluating global funds, it’s important to consider fees because these can have a significant impact on your overall returns. Make sure that you understand what fees are associated with each fund and if they are in line with industry norms. For example, some funds may have lower upfront costs but higher ongoing expenses, which could reduce overall returns.

Each country carries its own set of risks, including political, economic, and social factors which can have an effect on investment performance. For example, European countries tend to provide support for clean energy investments, while emerging markets may be less reliable in this regard.

Even after researching, remember that investing in global funds involves a certain amount of risk, and you should never invest more than you can afford.