5POM: The Whernside Fund (“Fund”) is a mutual fund that focuses: Portfolio Management Assignment, UK

Assessed summative assignment

The Whernside Fund (“Fund”) is a mutual fund that focuses on large UK companies which are publicly listed on the London Stock Exchange. The Fund’s objective is long-term growth and is looking to outperform the FTSE 100 Index on an annual basis net of fees.

The Fund follows a long-term buy-and-hold strategy, but the portfolio manager will adjust the portfolio if required to improve performance. The portfolio manager reviews the Fund periodically and makes a formal annual presentation to the Investment Committee. The Fund has a focused approach that limits the number of shareholdings to six companies.

Assume the Fund is currently fully invested and has an annual management fee charge of 1.0%, which is taken on 1st July each year. As portfolio manager of the Fund, you need to write and present the formal review paper to the Investment Committee. This should include:

a) Analysis of the performance of the Fund portfolio over the period July 1st, 2021 to June 30th, 2022, including an assessment of risk and return, risk-adjusted performance, and a comparison with the relevant benchmark.

b) Discussion of the main factors that affected the performance of each
shareholding and the portfolio.

c) Critical assessment of the asset allocation of the portfolio and the key risks it faces. Make recommendations to the Investment Committee on how the portfolio can be adjusted to improve performance.

Answer

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