Schroder Income: February 2025 fund update

• The fund is managed by disciplined and experienced value investors Nick Kirrage and Andrew Evans

• The fund has a distinct value style bias and the managers employ a contrarian approach to grow income and capital over the long term

• We were pleased to see Nick Kirrage return to manage the fund last year - we have a positive view of his skill set, capabilities and experience

• The fund currently features on our Wealth Shortlist of funds chosen by our analysts for their long-term performance potential

How it fits in a portfolio

The Schroder Income fund aims to provide income and capital growth over the long term by investing in a diversified portfolio of UK companies. The fund has a distinct value style bias and the contrarian approach employed means it can look quite different to the index at times.

We think the fund could diversify an income focused portfolio or offer value exposure to a more general portfolio.

Manager

The fund is co-managed by Nick Kirrage and Andrew Evans.

Kirrage joined Schroders in 2001 as an analyst in the Pan European research team where he focused on sectors like transport, metals & mining and aerospace and defence. He began managing value focused portfolios in 2006 and was a founding member of the global value team at Schroders in 2013. Kirrage managed the Schroder Income fund from May 2010 – October 2022 and came back onto the fund as manager again in June 2024 following the departure of Kevin Murphy. Kirrage is head of the global value team.

Evans began his career in 2001 at Dresdner Kleinwort as a Pan European transport analyst. He also worked at Columbia Threadneedle, focusing on UK equities, before joining Schroders in 2015. He’s been managing this fund since November 2022.

Both Kirrage and Evans also manage other funds at Schroders using the same process and value approach. As a result, we feel these responsibilities are complementary.

The managers benefit from the support of the 12 strong value team who manage a range of different strategies but employ the same investment process across multiple regions. We have a positive view of the collegiate approach, capability and experience of this team.

Last year, previous longstanding co-manager of the fund, Kevin Murphy, departed the business to pursue another opportunity elsewhere. While we were disappointed to see Murphy depart given his track record and experience, we are pleased to see Nick Kirrage co-managing the fund again. We have a positive view of Kirrage’s skill set, capabilities and experience.

Process

The process begins with valuation screens designed to identify companies that have experienced large share-price falls or falling profits. The managers aim to remove the impact of the economic cycle by looking at measures like share price relative to a company’s average earnings over 10 years. This helps them condense the investable universe to focus on the cheapest stocks. This focus on out-of-favour companies is called value investing.

The managers then perform detailed research on companies that have screened well with the aim of weeding out those that are value traps – companies that are cheap for good reason. This research process involves building financial models, identifying key drivers of the business and assessing its balance sheet strength. The managers will also look to normalise key measures of a company’s success like revenues, margins and returns over time rather than just looking at one point in the cycle.

A company’s income generation profile is considered throughout the process. The managers don’t just consider the current dividend a company pays, but also the potential for that dividend to grow and a company’s ability to grow its capital value in order to support that income growth over time.

Stocks with attractive risk/reward ratios are purchased with positions sized according to the managers’ assessment of the risks involved, with the larger positions in those with lower risks.

The team focus on reflection, mitigating behavioural biases and learning from previous decisions. They do this in a structured and systematic way, resulting in small iterations to the process over time. We think this is a good discipline to have and encourages continual improvement.

The fund is relatively concentrated which increases risk and is currently invested in 43 businesses, with the typical range from 30-50. The largest sector allocation is to financials, which accounts for 29.3% of the fund’s assets. This is followed by consumer staples and consumer discretionary stocks which account for 16.5% and 15.5% respectively. The largest individual stock positions are in tobacco companies British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands.

Culture

Schroders is a UK-listed multinational asset management company that employs thousands of investment professionals across 38 locations around the globe. The business is home to many high-calibre fund managers, which the managers can call upon for support.

We think the value team being the only team organised by style in the business demonstrates Schroders’ commitment to supporting this team through thick and thin.

Kirrage has remained loyal to the company for well over two decades, and, with the exception of Murphy leaving in 2024, the broader team has remained relatively stable too. We think the managers are incentivised in a way that aligns their interests with those of long-term investors.

ESG Integration

Schroders has invested significantly in ESG resources and tools in recent years. Each investment desk has access to a variety of data sources that have been brought together into a proprietary platform called SustainEx, which allows investment teams quantify a company’s positive and negative contributions to society. The ESG agenda at Schroders has significant support from senior management.

All Schroders funds were required to pass the firm’s inhouse ESG accreditation process by the end of 2020. All new funds must also be ESG accredited, and investment teams must reapply for accreditation on an ongoing basis.

The ESG accreditation process is managed by the Sustainable Investment team. They sit on the investment desk and are objective in their approach. There’s a set list of criteria that funds must meet to become accredited, and the process is substantial – no fund has ever gained accreditation on the first attempt. Fund managers are also expected to demonstrate improved levels of ESG integration over time.

The Schroders Sustainable Investment team acts as a focal point for ESG, proxy voting, and engagement. When it comes to proxy voting, Schroders has structured policies in place and is transparent on the reasons proposals have been voted against. On the ESG engagement side, the firm’s activities and outcomes are monitored, tracked and reported in its quarterly Sustainable Investment reports and annual Sustainability reports. There are also a range of ESG-related insight and thought leadership articles available on the firm’s website.

Investors should note that, as of 20/11/2024, this fund invests 26.68% of its assets in companies involved with the extraction of oil, gas or coal. This could leave the fund vulnerable to fluctuations in commodity prices, regulatory changes aimed at reducing carbon emissions, and potential shifts in consumer preferences towards sustainable alternatives.

Cost

The fund usually has an annual ongoing charge of 0.89%, but we’ve negotiated a 0.30% saving so it’s available to HL clients for 0.59%. The HL platform fee of up to 0.45% per year also applies, except in the HL Junior ISA, where no platform fee applies.

Please note the fund's charges are taken from capital rather than income. This increases the yield but reduces the potential for capital growth.

Performance

Since Nick Kirrage first became manager of the fund in May 2010, the fund has performed well, delivering outperformance of the FTSE All Share index for patient investors. Over this period, the fund has delivered returns of 207.37%. Compared with 146.86% for the FTSE All Share index. We think this is a good achievement considering that the fund’s value style of investment has had some significant periods out of favour with investors over that timeframe.

Investors should note though that performance over this entire period can’t be attributed to Kirrage as he was not a named manager on this fund between October 2022 – June 2024. Andrew Evans was co-manager over this period though Past performance isn't a guide to the future.

The contrarian nature of this approach means that investors need to adopt a long-term view as there will be times when the fund’s style will be out of favour and the fund could underperform.

Over the last 12 months to the end of January 2025, the fund has delivered a return of 22.05%, performing better than the 17.06% return from the FTSE All Share index. Our analysis suggests that the fund’s investments in wealth manager, St James’ Place and bank NatWest were among the most significant contributors to performance. On the other hand, the fund’s positions in financial services business M&G and building supplies company Travis Perkins were among the largest detractors.

We think Kirrage and Evans have the experience and support to deliver good long-term returns to patient investors, although there are no guarantees. All investments fall as well as rise in value, so investors could get back less than they invest.

At the time of writing, the fund has a historical yield of 5.1%. Income isn’t guaranteed, and yields aren’t a reliable indicator of future income.