UK is a 'cheap, ignored market' says JO Hambro as it reopens soft-closed flagship funds

J O Hambro Capital Management (JOHCM) has reopened its UK Dynamic fund and UK Equity Income fund, following their soft closures in December 2019 and October 2013 respectively.

Both funds had previously only been available to existing investors, however JOHCM said that a positive outlook for UK equities meant they decided to reopen them.

The JOHCM UK Dynamic fund is managed by Alex Savvides and has an AUM of £1.54bn. It aims to "profit from understanding and backing positive corporate change, particularly when it is misunderstood or under-appreciated by the stock market". It features a mixture of restructuring and recovery plays, cheap and hidden growth and other more general special situations.

The JOHCM UK Equity Income fund has an AUM of £2.52bn and is managed by Clive Beagles and James Lowen. It operates under a strict yield discipline, with the managers only buying stocks that are believed to yield more than the FTSE All-Share Index on a prospective basis.

Alex Savvides (pictured), Clive Beagles and James Lowen said: "We are pleased to be reopening our funds to new investors at this very interesting point in time, particularly for the processes that we run.

"We believe the UK is a fundamentally cheap and ignored stock market and, within that, our naturally contrarian styles lead us to stocks that are deeply misunderstood, underappreciated and undervalued. This creates a discount on a discount which we believe offers the opportunity for generating strong and consistent returns. We look forward to engaging with any new investors over the months ahead."

Tjeerd Voskamp, JOHCM's head of sales and distribution for the UK, Europe and Asia, added: "We are delighted to once again be able to offer these top performing funds to a broader group of investors. UK equities have struggled since the Brexit vote in 2016 as allocations to the asset class fell but we feel the tide may be about to turn.

"With undemanding valuations, increasing M&A activity and a positive macro backdrop, our fund management teams are very positive. Both strategies strongly outperformed the benchmark over 2021 and we are excited by the potential performance runways ahead of both funds."