Funds and trusts four pros are buying and selling: Q2 2026

Professional fund buyers reveal their most recent buys and sells, and share their outlook for the months ahead.

15th July 2026

by Lucy Loewenberg from interactive investor

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As markets move through the second half of 2026, the FTSE 100 remains firmly above the 10,000 mark. The index has continued to hold its gains, although its momentum has become more uneven in recent weeks.

Equities, particularly in the US, remain near record levels, supported by resilient earnings and continued optimism around artificial intelligence (AI).

However, volatility has resurfaced as a theme shaping UK and European markets, as geopolitcal tensions endure, keeping oil prices and energy stocks in focus.

Against this backdrop, our fund-of-funds investors continue to take a range of approaches to portfolio positioning. They favour global strategies and funds focused on emerging markets.

Each quarter, our multi-manager panel share their current bull and bear perspectives, along with the funds and investment trusts they have recently bought, added to, or sold.

Simon Evan-Cook, manager of the Downing Fox Funds

Reason to be bullish: there’s still a load of money being fired at the economy in the pursuit of building out the AI infrastructure, which is trickling down through the economy. Much of this spending is coming from the big tech monopolies which, prior to this, were producing more cash than they knew what to do with.

Reason to be bearish: there are signs that consumers are becoming overstretched, particularly now that wage growth is cooling down. It wouldn’t take much to flip them into recession-inducing belt-tightening.

Bought: Evan-Cook established a position in Guinness Global Innovators Z GBP ACC  to his stable of highly active funds. “Like most people, we are excited about the high level of innovation happening today, but we are equally nervous that there are patches of overexuberance, which we are keen to avoid,” says Evan-Cook. He believes the experienced team is good at identifying genuinely innovative companies, but are also aware of the dangers of their prices rising too high.

Ian Mortimer, co-manager of the Guinness Global Innovators fund, was recently interviewed by interactive investor.

Increased: he topped up his holding in Skerryvore ICAV Global EM Eq S GBP Acc . This fund’s focus on high-quality companies makes it tortoise-like in its approach and returns, and recently it has looked very slow versus the AI-heavy hares. Evan-Cook adds: “It has proved wise in the past to top up the tortoises when the hares are this far ahead.”

Trimmed: he cut back his exposure to IFSL Evenlode Global Equity B GBP Acc . “We still like the fund, but one member of the fund management team has recently left, so we’re holding a lower weight while the changes bed down,” says Evan-Cook.

Vincent Ropers, co-manager of IFSL Wise Multi-Asset Growth & IFSL Wise Multi-Asset Income

Reason to be bearish: inflationary pressures from the war in Iran and supply shortages are building up and starting to impact interest rate decisions and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic. In the US in particular where consumers have been one of the growth engines for the economy, this could put a dent in future growth.

Reason to be bullish: The AI spending engine is still firing on all cylinders, for now, offering support to growth over the next few months.  

Increased: despite solid underlying operational performance and a number of exits in recent months in the portfolio, ICG Enterprise Trust Ord  ICGT

suffered a sharp de-rating during the quarter. The trust, like other peers in the listed private equity sector, suffered from concerns about the impact of AI on its software exposure (a long-favoured sector for private equity investors), fears about higher interest rates due to inflationary pressures, and uncertainty about a febrile IPO market. 

Ropers says: “We note, however, that ICG’s software exposure is limited at about 12%, that the trust is conservatively managed, so less dependent on high levels of debt, and that the bulk of their exits have not historically relied on public markets (preferring exits to trade buyers or to other PE funds).” That’s why he thinks that the discount, currently 31%, presents attractive value.

Trimmed: by contrast to the position in ICG Enterprise, which Ropers increased during the quarter, he trimmed his position in private equity trust Pantheon International Ord  PIN

The same sector dynamics and investors’ concerns weighed on this trust, but its aggressive share buyback programme contributed to a tightening of the trust discount. The managers also realised more than 10% of the net asset value at a premium to carrying value, thus boosting investors’ confidence in valuations. “Given the sharp relative outperformance of the trust versus some of its peers in recent months, we took some profit,” he says.

Paul Green, co-portfolio manager, CT Global Managed Portfolio Trust

Reason to be bullish: economic fundamentals are broadly positive, and corporate earnings growth is broadening beyond the Magnificent Seven, supporting equity market strength. 

Reason to be bearish: the conflict in the Middle East has pushed up near-term inflation expectations and the risk is that central banks react with rate hikes in order to curb supply-side inflation.

Increased: Green’s team hasn’t added any new positions to their portfolios over the last quarter, but they introduced a position in Fidelity Emerging Markets Ord  FEML

to the Growth Portfolio in August last year and have since scaled the position up.

FEML has posted returns of more than 100% over the past 12 months, almost doubling its MSCI Emerging Markets benchmark return. Green says: “When we decompose those returns, we find that more than half its outperformance can be attributed to gearing, investing in smaller but less liquid companies and shorting specific companies or markets – impressive use of the investment company structure.”

Within the Income Portfolio, they added to their position in Murray Income Trust Ord  MUT

after the change of manager to the established Artemis UK Income team, who Green says, “enjoy one of the best and longest open-ended track records in the open-ended Investment Association (IA) UK Equity Income Sector.”

The team will manage the trust in the same way as their open-ended fund, but Green believes that with some modest gearing (and lower ongoing fees) on a portfolio showing attractive fundamental characteristics, it should lead to attractive returns.

Sold: despite the attractive income yield, Green fully sold his holding of Renewables Infrastructure Grp  TRIG

 from the Income portfolio. He prefers the purer play of Greencoat UK Wind  UKW

and total return characteristics of Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Ord CORD0 and Pantheon Infrastructure Ord PINT  trusts.

Tihana Ibrahimpasic, portfolio manager on the multi-asset team at Janus Henderson Investors

Reason to be bullish: US productivity rose 2.9% year-over-year in the first quarter — the strongest in two years — as AI adoption feeds through the economy, while a palatable interest-rate environment is fuelling record activity (Q1 global M&A hit $861 billion (£643 billion), the strongest in five years). Earnings momentum is broadening beyond the Magnificent Seven and across regions, pointing to a wider, more durable growth base.

Reason to be bearish: inflation could prove a more sizable and persistent risk than consensus expects, with the Federal Reserve and most major central banks on pause or leaning hawkish in response to higher oil prices – leaving rates higher for longer. Combined with ongoing geopolitical conflict, entrenched inflation and rising rates would pressure valuations and long-duration assets.

Bought: Ibrahimpasic opened a new position in theStt Strt SPDR S&P500QulAristETF$UnhAcc 

a rules-based, quality-tilted US large-cap strategy that seeks to outperform the broad S&P 500 over a full cycle.

Rather than relying on a manager’s discretion, it systematically screens the index for companies with a track record of positive free cash flow and then selects the highest-quality names on metrics such as cash generation, low gearing and capital-light business models.

The result is a concentrated 100-stock portfolio at a relatively low cost, with high-conviction weightings in durable US technology and healthcare leaders. Ibrahimpasic says: “The position was introduced to build a little more resilience into the portfolio through its quality tilt, having captured a genuine quality premium over the plain benchmark.”

Increased: she added further to her holding in the emerging market growth manager, FP Carmignac Emerging Markets B GBP Acc (BQXJRP9) fund. This is a high-conviction, growth-oriented global emerging market equity strategy that seeks to outperform over a full cycle by investing in quality, cash-generative, self-financing companies operating in countries with strong macro fundamentals.

“This was partly done to increase exposure to the asset class, as well as build up exposure in a high-conviction manager,” says Ibrahimpasic.

Sold: she closed her position in Regnan Sustainable Water and Waste IGBP , which is run by a well-established team and seeks to invest in generally small and mid-cap businesses, predominantly in the industrials and utilities sectors, that meet certain environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria.

“Our exit was a result of tactical rotation towards large-cap names and raising cash across the book stemming from our risk management process, as well as a period of softer performance of the manager beyond its prevalent style,” she says.

The multi-manager panellists

Vincent Ropers is a portfolio manager at Wise Funds, responsible for multi-asset strategies, using value and fundamental investment styles. He is co-manager of IFSL Wise Multi-Asset Growth and IFSL Wise Multi-Asset Income.

Paul Green along with Adam Norris along with became co-manager of CT Global Managed Portfolio Growth Ord  CMPG

 and CT Global Managed Portfolio Income Ord  CMPI

on 1 June 2025. They have both been part of the multi-asset team at Columbia Threadneedle since 2016 and 2007, respectively, and have a combined investment experience of 35 years. The two investment trusts specialise in buying other investment trusts.

Tihana Ibrahimpasic is a portfolio manager on the multi-asset team at Janus Henderson Investors. Prior to taking this role in 2021, she was a research analyst in the team from 2018.