Overview
Download factsheetA fully invested equity strategy that aims to provide investors with growing levels of income with resilient capital growth by investing at least 80% of its assets in UK and overseas equities and equity-related securities.
What does the fund do?
We manage a concentrated portfolio of 30-50 high-quality, cash-generative companies that are capable of consistent dividend growth. At least 60% of the Fund is invested in UK equities with a maximum if 30% invested in overseas equities.
Our long-term approach and focus on reasonably valued, high-quality, sustainable and cash generative companies leads to low portfolio turnover. The fund will invest in accordance with the parameters of its ethical exclusion criteria, which consider ethical issues in relation to: fossil fuels, pornography, tobacco and certain types of armaments.
View our ethical exclusion criteria
Why this fund?
We believe our approach to income investing is differentiated through; our conservative quality-orientated process, our focus on total return and our prioritisation of dividend growth above high yield.
We seek a sensible balance between capital and income return in order to deliver above average returns with below average volatility.
The strategy has no explicit yield target and instead we emphasise real growth and long-term sustainability of the income stream above producing the highest dividend yield today. In so doing, we aim to deliver investors a growing yield on their initial investment.
In addition to the Ethical Exclusion Criteria the The Fund integrates ESG and stewardship in accordance with Troy’s Responsible Investment & Stewardship Policy and also adheres to Troy’s Climate Change Mitigation Policy, in accordance with article 8 of SFDR.
View our SFDR disclosure
The team
Hugo is Manager of the Trojan Ethical Income Fund.
Hugo joined Troy in 2009 from Kleinwort Benson, where he was an equity analyst. Hugo gained his MA in Geology from Oxford University in 1999, following which he spent five years serving with the Scots Guards. He holds the CISI Diploma and is a CFA Charterholder.
Blake is Manager of the Trojan Income Fund.
Blake joined Troy in 2019 from Investec Asset Management where he was lead manager on the UK Equity Income fund and co-manager on the Global Quality Equity Income Fund. Prior to that, Blake managed retail and institutional UK equity funds at Columbia Threadneedle. Blake holds a MA Hons in Economics and Politics from the University of Edinburgh.
Fergus is the Assistant Manager of the Trojan Income Fund and has responsibility for the analysis of global companies and their selection for Troy’s portfolios.
Joining Troy in 2017 following an internship, Fergus holds a BA in Biological Sciences and a doctorate in Zoology (Biomechanics) from Oxford University. Fergus is a CFA Charterholder.
Aniruddha is an Investment Analyst and has the responsibility of the analysis of global companies and their selection for Troy’s portfolios.
Aniruddha joined Troy in September 2019 on an internship before becoming an permanent member of the investment team in January 2020. He holds a B. Eng. degree from the University of Pune and an MPhil Finance and Economics from the University of Cambridge. Aniruddha is a CFA Charterholder.
Key facts
‘O’ ACC SHARE CLASS as at 16/08/2024
152.78p
Fund size as at 31/07/2024
£200m
‘O’ INC SHARE CLASS as at 16/08/2024
121.29p
Performance
Source: Lipper, Waystone Management Limited.
| 06/01/2016 | 30/11/2019 | 30/11/2021 | 30/11/2023 | 31/05/2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since Launch | 5 Years | 3 Years | 1 Year | 6 Months | |
| FTSE All-Share TR | 87.1 | 32.2 | 25.5 | 15.7 | 1.9 |
| Trojan Ethical Income O Acc | 57.5 | 11.4 | 9.3 | 13.1 | 6.5 |
| Discrete Calendar Annual Returns (%) | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trojan Ethical Income O Acc | 8 | 10.2 | -2.9 | 23.9 | -6 | 12.1 | -11.2 | 8.2 | 8.6 |
Performance is calculated on a total return basis, net of fees, in sterling terms. Past performance is not a guide to future performance
Source: Lipper, Waystone Management Limited.
Since Launch (06/01/2016) to .
Risk and Volatility since launch
Source: Lipper, Waystone Management Limited.
| Risk Analysis Since Launch (06/01/2016) | Trojan Ethical Income O Acc | FTSE All-Share TR |
|---|---|---|
| Total Return | 57.5 | 87.1 |
| Max Drawdown | -25.4 | -35.3 |
| Best Month | 6.6 | 12.7 |
| Worst Month | -9.1 | -15.1 |
| Positive Months | 62.3 | 62.3 |
| Annualised Volatility | 9.9 | 12.2 |
Performance is calculated on a total return basis, net of fees, in sterling terms.
Maximum Drawdown measures the worst investment period
Annualised Volatility is measured by the annualised standard deviation of the monthly returns
Source: Lipper, Waystone Management Limited. As at .
Asset allocation
| Top 10 holdings | Fund % |
|---|---|
| Unilever | 6.57755957473797 |
| RELX | 6.16193968358809 |
| Reckitt Benckiser | 4.71395114564286 |
| Bunzl | 4.44908468633748 |
| LSEG | 4.4278234127088 |
| Experian | 4.05786623025075 |
| Compass | 3.50358947976846 |
| National Grid | 3.25833839897352 |
| Paychex | 3.21534867285386 |
| Novartis | 2.92525483975586 |
| Total Top 10 | 43.2907561246177 |
| 27 Other Equity holdings | 55.4773655760143 |
| Cash | 1.23187829936807 |
| Total | 100 |
Asset allocation and holdings subject to change. As at .
Fund literature
| Document name | Date | Open/download | Archived documents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Factsheet | View archive | ||
| UCITS KIID | View share classes | ||
|
Fund Information Sheet |
View document Download document | ||
| Prospectus & Additional Investor Information | View documents | ||
|
Sustainability-related Disclosures |
View document Download document | ||
|
Troy’s Ethical Exclusion Criteria |
View document Download document | ||
| Newsletters | View newsletters | ||
|
Annual Report |
January 2024 | View document Download document | |
|
Interim Report |
July 2023 | View document Download document |
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Factsheet
View archive Open
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-
UCITS KIID
View share classes Download
-
Fund Information Sheet
Open Download -
Prospectus & Additional Investor Information
View documents Open
Download
-
Sustainability-related Disclosures
Open Download -
Troy’s Ethical Exclusion Criteria
Open Download -
Newsletters
View newsletters Open
Download
-
Annual Report
Date: January 2024 Open Download -
Interim Report
Date: July 2023 Open Download
Important Information
Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The value of a fund and any income from it may go down as well as up and investors may get back less than they invested. Changes in rates of exchange may cause the value of investments to go up or down. Returns may increase or decrease as a result of currency fluctuations. This data is provided for information only and should not be reproduced, published or disseminated in any manner. Although Troy considers the data to be reliable, no warranty is given as to its accuracy or completeness. Any comparisons against indices are for illustrative purposes only. In line with the Fund’s prospectus, the Fund is authorised to invest in transferable securities and money market instruments issued or guaranteed by an EEA state, one or more local authorities, a third country, or a public international body to which one or more EEA states belong. The Investment Manager would only consider investing more than 35% of the Fund’s assets in UK or US government issued transferable securities or approved money market instruments.
Some of the information contained on this page: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information.
Important information for U.S. persons
The securities described on this website are neither available nor offered in the United States of America (including the District of Columbia or any other territory occupied or possessed by the United States of America) or to U.S. persons (including residents of the United States of America, residents within an area subject to its jurisdiction and U.S. persons who are resident outside the United States of America).
For the full fund disclaimer please refer to the Fund factsheet.
Please refer to Troy’s Glossary of Terms available here.
How to invest
Find more information on how to invest in this fund and where it is available.
Commentary
July 2024
Your Fund returned of +3.2% during the month, compared to a return of +3.1% for the FTSE All-Share Index (TR).
In last month’s factsheet, we wrote that we were starting a new UK holding. Having now built a position, we are happy to disclose that the company is Informa, a c.£11bn market cap B2B company focused on live events and academic publishing.
Live events account for the majority of sales and profit, with Informa being the world’s largest operator of B2B trade shows and conferences. The company own key brands and ‘must attend’ shows within various industries globally. For instance, they operate CPHI Worldwide, the largest pharmaceutical exhibition in the world, and Black Hat, a leading cybersecurity conference that takes place in Las Vegas. Each year, Informa put on over 200 of these large-scale trade shows and each of them play a valuable role within their respective markets by facilitating trade and relationship building between thousands of industry professionals. This division of Informa has many aspects we value highly at Troy; revenues are highly diversified by sector and geography whilst leading shows within specific industries are almost impossible to displace. Thanks to high margins and significant upfront payments from exhibitors, who book and pay well in advance of a show taking place, the business is extremely cash generative with high returns on capital. Furthermore, whilst Informa is the market leader globally, ahead of fellow portfolio holding RELX, the industry is highly fragmented, providing ample runway for long-term growth.
Informa’s second focus is academic publishing, with the company operating globally under the well-known Taylor and Francis (T&F) brand. Academic publishing is a highly resilient industry that grows steadily across the cycle. As the world’s fourth largest academic journal and book publisher, T&F sit between academic authors and institutions, facilitating research, publication and distribution of content globally. The division has similarly high operating profit margins as the events business at over 30%, also enjoying strong cash generation. We like the role that the division plays within the wider group, offering significant ballast given the largely non-cyclical nature of revenues.
Led by a long-standing and capable management team, we find Informa a great example of the type of attractive opportunity currently available to UK equity investors. It is a market-leading, global business with strong incremental economics and good growth prospects. The shares trade at a highly reasonable rating of approximately 16x earnings and a 6% free cash flow yield. The dividend, which is more than twice covered by cash flow, is also attractive. It was increased by +10% at the recent half-year results and represents a yield of c.2.4%.