Overview

Summary

  • Dynamic asset allocation between equities, bonds, commodities and cash
  • Aim is to capture equity market upside in bull markets but to reduce drawdowns (peak to trough falls) in bear markets
  • All exposure achieved through Exchange Traded Funds which have low costs and low dealing charges
  • Avoids style bias – both asset allocation and equity focus change according to market conditions
  • Suitable as a potential diversifier within a broader portfolio due to generally low correlation and lower volatility than Equities
  • Can also be a core holding for investors who prefer not to make asset allocation changes themselves

Investment Approach

The two most important drivers for investment decisions are fundamental value and market trends. Fundamental value determines the potential over the medium/long term but can be a poor indicator of price movements in the short term. Market trends (including momentum and overbought signals) can be a good leading indicator of future price movements but can be dangerous if fundamental value is ignored. Neither analytic should be used in isolation but it is logical to select investments based objectively according to a combination of fundamental value and market trends which are independent of opinion, forecasts and emotion.

Performance

(as at 31 January 2025)

Performance shown is the total return (net of fees & costs) for the Accumulation B share class. Inception date was 12 July 2017. The Fund is not managed against any benchmark. The Investment Association Flexible Sector and UK Consumer Price Inflation are shown as Comparator benchmarks as per FCA PS 19-04. The IA Flexible Sector contains a wide array of funds with a flexible mandate, hence the comparator, but many of them have different investment objectives and profiles. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Source: Ekins Guinness LLP.

Key Facts

Structure & Administration

Structure UCITS /
ISA
Authorised
Corporate
Director
Depositary Custodian Auditor Income /
Accumulation
Dividend
Payment
Dates
Valuation &
Cut Off
Comparator
Benchmark
UK
Authorised
OEIC
Yes
Waystone
Financial
Services
BNY Mellon
BNY Mellon
KPMG
Both
31 January
&
31 July
12 noon
daily
MSCI World
Index

Share Classes

Share Class Minimum
Holding
Managment &
Administration
Fee
Ongoing
Charges
Figure
ISIN SEDOL
Z Accumulation GBP
£200,000
0.45%
0.60%
GB00BLFFGD12
BLFFGD1
Z Income GBP
£200,000
0.45%
0.60%
GB00BLFFGC05
BLFFGC0
B Accumulation GBP
£5,000
0.70%
0.85%
GB00BD8YW428
BD8YW42
B Income GBP
£5,000
0.70%
0.85%
GB00BD8YW758
BD8YW75

Managers

Charles Ekins

Charles is the founder and Chief Executive of Ekins Guinness LLP. Previously he was Chief Investment Officer at Valu-Trac Investment Management, prior to which he spent 19 years at Morgan Grenfell (Deutsche) Asset Management where he was a portfolio manager, member of the Investment Policy Committee and client director. He read Maths with Computing Science at Bristol University and has an MBA from the City University Business School. Charles is a Director of the Herald Worldwide Technology Fund (Dublin OEIC).

Jasper Falk

Jasper has over 20 years experience in Investment Banking. He established and managed JPMorgan’s Global Inflation trading business which assisted Pension Funds and Asset Manager clients in hedging and managing their liabilities. He was also a member of the Fixed Income Management Committee. Jasper read Engineering and Management Studies at St Catharine’s College Cambridge, and holds the Financial Times Non-Executive Director Diploma.

Holdings

(as at 31 January2025)

Portfolio Holdings

Equity Analysis

Investment Commentary

as at 31 January 2025

 

The Fund rose 3.8% in January 2025. This gives a return of 63.8% (net of fees and costs) since launch on 12th July 2017, which compares with a return of 47.8% from the IA Flexible Sector. The Fund is ranked in the 1st quartile over 1, 3 & 5 years and since launch within the IA Flexible Sector.

The Fund is also ranked in the top decile over 1, 3 & 5 years against all 622 funds in the four IA Mixed Asset Sectors (Flexible, 0-35% Shares, 20-60% Shares & 40-85% Shares).

Gold (returning 7.9% in GBP terms) and Commodities (4.8%) were strong again in January, while Gilts and US Treasuries gave very modest positive returns.

World Equities were strong again in January mainly on continued but plausible expectations of strong corporate earnings growth in 2025, especially in the US. Markets were unsettled by the unexpected launch in China of DeepSeek which is viewed as major competition to the Artificial Intelligence lead that the US has built and which has been a major reason for strong performance of the US Equity market in 2024, especially in Technology stocks. The DeepSeek announcement caused a major loss of momentum in the Global Technology Sector and caused it to be the worst performing Sector in January (falling 0.7% in GBP terms). It is too soon to know if this is just a temporary correction amid profit taking or the start of a major change in sentiment.

The best performing Global Sectors in January were Communication Services (9.6%), Financials (7.4%), Healthcare (7.2%), Materials (6.0%) and Industrials (5.5%).

The asset allocation within the Fund has not changed much over the month. Gold and to a lesser extent the basket of Commodities remain core holdings in the Fund, in aggregate 18%. They have good momentum at a time when Equity valuations are stretched and there is considerable concern about the level of Government debt and geopolitical tensions, which are now spilling into Trump’s tariffs.

The main changes in January to the allocations within the Equity holdings have been a significant reduction in Technology due to the significant loss of momentum from the DeepSeek episode. The Fund is now broadly neutral in Technology while we wait to see how it pans out. Technology is at an important point of inflexion, just like it was in September. It needs to recover because all the relative moving averages are now falling, otherwise the loss of momentum could become self-feeding. There is no point in trying to second-guess the next move – it is better to wait and see how the trends develop.

There has been a further increase to Healthcare which is both very cheap and building momentum as sentiment improves. There has also been an increase in Consumer Staples which had previously underperformed significantly and which is now showing early signs of improvement.

The encouraging factors for Equity markets are that corporate earnings remain strong, driven by the continued strong US economy. The main negatives are that equity valuations are stretched, and there is nervousness about Trump’s tariffs.

 

Documents

How to Invest

via Platforms

Directly

The WS Enigma Dynamic Growth Fund is available on the following platforms:

Allfunds Aegon AJ Bell Alliance Trust
Ascentric
Aviva
Barclays
FNZ
Hargreaves
Lansdown
Interactive
Investor
Novia
Nucleus
Pershing
Transact
Zurich

Contact Ekins Guinness LLP

Contact Waystone Fund Services

Important Information

You must read and agree to the following before continuing.

The contents of this website have been prepared by Ekins Guinness LLP (“Ekins Guinness”) using sources believed to be reliable and accurate but which cannot be warranted as to accuracy or completeness. Information and opinions are subject to change without notice.

Ekins Guinness LLP is authorised and regulated in the conduct of investment business by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”). Ekins Guinness provides investment research for information purposes and investment management services to professional and retail customers. Under no circumstances is the content of this website intended to be or to be relied upon as constituting personal investment advice or construed as any offer, or any solicitation of any offer, to buy or sell investments. Whilst all reasonable care has been taken to ensure that research published by Ekins Guinness is not untrue or misleading at the time of publication, neither Ekins Guinness nor its officers or employees makes any representation or warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of such materials. No liability is accepted for any loss whether direct or indirect, incidental or consequential, arising out of any of the research or any information on this website not being true and accurate. All information on this website is believed to be correct and accurate at the time it is posted but is subject to variation without notice.

Partners or employees of Ekins Guinness may have or have had interests or long or short positions in the relevant securities or related financial instruments discussed in Ekins Guinness’s publications.

The value of shares and other investments and the income derived from them may go down as well as up, and you may not get back the full amount you originally invested. Derivatives in particular are high risk investment instruments which carry a contingent liability, the value of which may be affected by a greater proportion than the change in the value of the underlying investment or asset. If you make an investment in securities that are denominated in a currency other than your own you are warned that changes in rates of foreign exchange may have an adverse effect on the value, price or income of the investment in your own currency. Any persons in doubt as to whether the investments referred to in our research material may be suitable for them, should consult an independent financial adviser.

This website is hosted in the United Kingdom and compiled in order to comply with English law. All visits to this website are subject to and governed in accordance with English law.

This website uses cookies to ensure that you have the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site Ekins Guinness will assume that you are happy with and agree to them.

The “Ekins Guinness”, “Enigma Investments” and “Enigma” names and other trade marks and logos appearing on Ekins Guinness websites are, unless indicated otherwise, the trade marks of Ekins Guinness. All intellectual property rights in and to the same site expressly reserved to Ekins Guinness or (as the case may be) the organisation which has licensed Ekins Guinness to reproduce the same and accordingly none of the trade marks may be reproduced by you without the express prior consent of Ekins Guinness.

WS Enigma Funds

The WS Enigma Funds are not available to US persons. Full details of the WS Enigma Funds, including risk warnings, are published in the Prospectus and Supplementary Information document. The WS Enigma Funds are exposed to global financial markets and therefore is subject to market fluctuations and other risks inherent in such investments. Investments in overseas markets may be affected by changes in exchange rates, which could cause the value of your investment to increase or diminish. The manager may enter into derivative transactions for efficient portfolio management purposes (including hedging) and investment purposes.

© Ekins Guinness LLP 2000-2024. All rights reserved. No part may be reproduced or distributed in any manner without Ekins Guinness’s written permission. Ekins Guinness specifically prohibits redistribution via the internet or otherwise, and accepts no liability whatsoever for the actions of third parties in this respect.

In order to proceed to the website, please confirm that you are in agreement with this information and that you are a non-US customer.