UK Institutional Balanced

Strategy highlights

: Newton’s longest-running strategy, managed since our formation in 1978

Invests in attractively valued stocks, with a sustained allocation to bonds and cash

Security selection driven by bottom-up proprietary research which incorporates consideration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks, issues and opportunities

Our philosophy and process

: We follow a single-portfolio, holistic approach to constructing multi-asset portfolios. A constantly evolving and forward-looking approach seeks to anticipate change, manage risk, and identify opportunities.

Material ESG risks, opportunities and issues are considered as part of the investment research process.

Every time we consider a security or look at an industry or country, it’s in the context of what’s happening across the world. We believe the investment landscape is shaped over the long term by some key trends, and we use themes to help identify opportunities.

Investment team

Our UK Institutional Balanced strategy is managed by an experienced team. In-house research analysts are at the core of our investment process, and our multidimensional research platform spans fundamental, thematic, ESG, quantitative, geopolitical, investigative and private-market research to promote better-informed investment decisions.

25: years’ average investment experience
13: years’ average time at Newton

Paul Flood

Head of mixed assets investment
Simon Nichols

Portfolio manager, Global Opportunities team
Bhavin Shah

Portfolio manager, multi-asset team
Alison El-Araby

Portfolio manager, multi-asset team
Hilary Meades

Head of charities investment
Janice Kim

Portfolio manager, multi-asset team
William Cazalet

Global investment strategist

Strategy profile

Objective: The strategy seeks to outperform the custom blended benchmark by 1-2% per annum over rolling 5-year periods by investing in a global portfolio of equities, fixed-income and alternative securities.
Performance benchmark: 37.5% FTSE All-Share index, 37.5% FTSE World (ex-UK) index, 20% FTSE Actuaries UK Conventional Gilts All Stocks index and 5% SONIA (7-day compounded)
Typical number of equity holdings: 60 to 110

Strategy size: £482m (as at 31 March 2023)
Strategy inception: 22 September 1998 (BNY Mellon Global Balanced Fund).
Newton has managed UK Institutional Balanced strategies since its formation in 1978.
Strategy available through pooled UK vehicle: BNY Mellon Multi-Asset Global Balanced Fund

View fund performance
View Key Investor Information Document
View prospectus

Strategy factsheet

Performance and commentary for the last quarter.

Download Factsheet

Responsible investment report

Stewardship activities (voting and engagement) for the last quarter and ESG metrics.

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Your capital may be at risk. The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise and investors may not get back the original amount invested.

Newton will make investment decisions that are not based solely on ESG considerations. Those considerations are among many inputs into the fundamental analysis. Other attributes of an investment may outweigh ESG considerations when making investment decisions. The way that material ESG considerations are assessed may vary depending on the asset class and strategy involved. As of September 2022, the research team performs ESG analysis on equity securities prior to their addition to Newton’s Research Recommended List (RRL). ESG reviews are not performed for all fixed income securities. The portfolio managers may purchase equity securities that are not included on the RRL and which do not have ESG reviews. Not all securities held by Newton’s strategies have an ESG review completed prior to investment.

Key investment risks

: Objective/performance risk: The performance aim is not a guarantee, may not be achieved and a capital loss may occur. Strategies which have a higher performance aim generally take more risk to achieve this and so have a greater potential for returns to vary significantly.

Currency risk: This strategy invests in international markets which means it is exposed to changes in currency rates which could affect the value of the strategy.

Derivatives risk: Derivatives are highly sensitive to changes in the value of the asset from which their value is derived. A small movement in the value of the underlying asset can cause a large movement in the value of the derivative. This can increase the sizes of losses and gains, causing the value of your investment to fluctuate. When using derivatives, the strategy can lose significantly more than the amount it has invested in derivatives.

Changes in interest rates & inflation risk: Investments in bonds/money market securities are affected by interest rates and inflation trends which may negatively affect the value of the strategy.

Credit ratings and unrated securities risk: Bonds with a low credit rating or unrated bonds have a greater risk of default. These investments may negatively affect the value of the strategy.

Credit risk: The issuer of a security held by the strategy may not pay income or repay capital to the strategy when due.

Emerging markets risk: Emerging Markets have additional risks due to less-developed market practices.

Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and/or the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect (‘Stock Connect’) risk: The strategy may invest in China A shares through Stock Connect programmes. These may be subject to regulatory changes and quota limitations. An operational constraint such as a suspension in trading could negatively affect the strategy’s ability to achieve its investment objective.

CoCos risk: Contingent convertible securities (CoCos) convert from debt to equity when the issuer’s capital drops below a pre-defined level. This may result in the security converting into equities at a discounted share price, the value of the security being written down, temporarily or permanently, and/or coupon payments ceasing or being deferred.

Counterparty risk: The insolvency of any institutions providing services such as custody of assets or acting as a counterparty to derivatives or other contractual arrangements, may expose the strategy to financial loss.