Funds Range

  • Managed by Barry Norris, the VT Argonaut Absolute Return Fund uses a simple long/short equity strategy to deliver attractive and positive returns with historically low correlation to equity markets.

    This means it invests in its “long book” in stocks with significant earnings upside potential and in its “short book” in stocks with significant earnings downside potential. This combination aims to minimise market risk and maximise alpha generation. Volatility is also managed through flexible market exposure.

    • A portfolio diversifier with returns that have historically been lowly correlated to equity markets
    • Distinctive earnings momentum style
    • Invests exclusively in high conviction single stocks (both long and short) with no complicated derivatives
    • Hedges market risk through single stock alpha generation in short book
    • Solid track record of generating positive returns in negative market months and in controlling downside volatility
    • Hedges foreign currency risk back into currency share classes

    For further information on past performance and key investment themes, download the latest Factsheet.

    Investment Adviser 100 Club Member 2015Sauren Fondsmanager RatingLSEG Lipper Fund Awards

    Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The value of shares and any income from them can go down as well as up and is not guaranteed. You may not get back the full amount invested.

    This information is for professional clients and investment professionals only and should not be relied upon by retail clients.

    Literature

  • Managed by Barry Norris, the VT Argonaut Equity Income Fund’s aims to provide an income in excess of the yield of the MSCI Europe ex UK Index, with long term capital growth.

    The VT Argonaut Equity Income Fund is a concentrated portfolio of continental European equities. The fund has a high conviction, best ideas approach to achieving a high and sustainable yield.

    • Concentrated portfolio of best ideas
    • Deliver a sustainable and growing dividend
    • Avoid yield traps
    • Value orientated
    • Normally, 100% market exposed

    For further information on past performance and key investment themes, download the latest Factsheet.

    Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The value of shares and any income from them can go down as well as up and is not guaranteed. You may not get back the full amount invested.

    This information is for professional clients and investment professionals only and should not be relied upon by retail clients.

    Literature

  • Managed by Barry Norris, the VT Argonaut European Alpha Fund’s high conviction approach has delivered outperformance.

    The VT Argonaut European Alpha Fund is a concentrated portfolio of continental European equities. The fund has a high conviction, best ideas approach to achieving capital growth and aims to significantly outperform the MSCI Europe ex UK stock market index.

    • Concentrated portfolio of best ideas
    • Distinctive earnings momentum style
    • Normally, 100% market exposed
    • Long-term track record
    • Diversifier from traditional “growth” or “value” strategies

    For further information on past performance and key investment themes, download the latest Factsheet.

    FE Alpha Manager 2012Sauren Fondsmanager Rating

    Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The value of units and any income from them can go down as well as up and is not guaranteed. You may not get back the full amount invested.

    This information is for professional clients and investment professionals only and should not be relied upon by retail clients.

    Literature

  • Proposed Fund Merger

    Argonaut Capital Partners LLP (Argonaut) proposes to merge the VT Argonaut European Alpha Fund (‘Alpha Fund’) and VT Argonaut Equity Income Fund (‘Income Fund’) into a new global fund, the VT Argonaut Flexible Fund (‘Flexible Fund’). 

    The Flexible Fund will sit in the Investment Association (IA) Flexible sector and will be a long-only strategy combining Argonaut’s high conviction global equity portfolio with greater flexibility for tactical allocations to government bonds, cash, and precious metals as diversification tools to mitigate volatility and/or enhance returns.

    The Flexible Fund’s equity exposure will vary according to market conditions but is expected to be 50-80%. Its geographic scope will be global, with a focus on developed Pan-European and North American assets. Unlike the VT Argonaut Absolute Return Fund, which is a long/short strategy, the Flexible fund will not short stocks, nor will it use leverage.

    The objective of the Flexible Fund will be to deliver capital appreciation (and income) over the long term via an active, fundamental investment approach and a concentrated portfolio of equity investments whilst using its non-equity exposure to mitigate risk of capital loss over the economic cycle.

    How & When?

    The proposed merger will be constituted via a “Scheme of Arrangement,” requiring approval from unitholders via EGM.

    The new units issued will have the same acquisition cost and acquisition date for the purposes of tax on capital gains as your existing units and will not therefore give rise to a capital gains charge.

    Please note that should you choose to redeem or switch your units prior to the Merger, a redemption or switch will be treated as a disposal of shares for tax purposes, and you may be liable to capital gains tax on any gains arising from the redemption.

    The proposed timelines are as follows:

    • Thursday 5th September - Letter to unitholders
    • Thursday 26th September – EGM
    • Friday 11th October - Effective date (launch of new fund)

    Reasons for Merger

    The key reasons for the proposed merger of the Alpha Fund and Equity Income Fund into the Flexible Fund are investment related.

    We believe a global mandate (rather than one restricted to Europe-ex-UK) and the widening of the manager’s discretion to be able to invest in non-equity instruments will enhance the overall investment proposition for current and prospective unit holders, producing superior absolute and risk-adjusted returns over the long term.

    We have back-tested the returns over two decades for this proposed strategy using a 2/3rds fixed allocation to Argonaut’s flagship fund equity portfolio together with a fixed allocations to T-Bills, Cash and Gold. The results are compelling – see below for both the data and our methodology.

    Background

    Argonaut launched in 2005 with the aim of generating alpha from active, fundamental, and unconstrained equity investing, with a focus on European equities. Over time and with the launch of the flagship VT Argonaut Absolute Return Fund, our investment universe has broadened to Global, incorporating the world’s largest and most liquid stock markets in the United States.

    Our experience convinces us that Argonaut’s idea generation process – an evolution from over two decades of accumulated wisdom, learning from mistakes and refinements to process – shouldn’t be constrained to a narrow geographical universe which restricts opportunities based on legacy design.

    The performance of the long/short VT Argonaut Absolute Return Fund and the opportunities identified outside of Europe since it moved to a less restrictive geographical mandate bear this out and we are keen for Argonaut’s long-only franchise to similarly benefit from a larger, more liquid stock universe and all of our best ideas. Importantly, however, the Flexible Fund will still be permitted to invest in every European stock the legacy funds currently own.

    In addition to the investment advantages, the merger is expected to reduce overall costs for existing unit holders while there will be operational benefits also with all Argonaut funds utilising the same investment universe. Post merger, Argonaut will have two strategies – the long/short VT Argonaut Absolute Return Fund and the long-only VT Argonaut Flexible Fund.

    In his epic 3rd century poem, Apollonius of Rhodes, recalled the Argonauts leaving the Aegean Sea and to travel to a remote corner of the known world in the Black Sea in search of the Golden Fleece. We believe a similarly outward-looking mindset and spirit of derring-do – expressed through a flexible global mandate – can deliver even better outcomes for clients in the coming years.

    We hope you will continue to place your trust in Argonaut by supporting our proposal.

    Argonaut Capital Partners
    August 2024

     

    Simulated Annual Performance (%)

    Data to 31-Jul-24Argonaut Flexible FundEURO STOXX NRIA Flexible Investment
    Nov to Dec 02-1.9-1.6-1.5
    200318.530.622.2
    200420.812.810.5
    200526.522.124.2
    200622.020.610.2
    200710.117.06.1
    2008-10.7-27.1-26.0
    200918.817.324.7
    201012.2-1.014.9
    2011-5.5-17.4-8.5
    201210.415.910.3
    201328.926.914.8
    201410.6-2.94.8
    201514.74.82.1
    2016-6.420.614.2
    201711.417.011.1
    2018-11.1-11.8-6.6
    201921.119.115.6
    20206.35.97.0
    20215.115.111.4
    20224.2-7.3-9.1
    20238.715.87.3
    202412.55.66.6
    Return673.3436.1330.9
    CAGR9.98.06.9
    Volatility11.014.411.5
    Correlation to European Equities0.7 0.9

    Source: Argonaut Capital Partners LLP

    *Simulated Track Record Methodology

    Equity exposure: As the new fund will – like the VT Argonaut Absolute Return Fund (AR Fund) – be able to invest in the US as well as Europe, we have taken the equity “asset” return as the monthly return on the long book of the AR fund grossed up or down to 100%*. In order to incorporate dynamic allocation based on historic behaviour, we have used two rules for monthly weighting to “equities”:

    1. It should always be 2/3rds of the AR fund allocation as a % of NAV. i.e. if AR fund is 100% exposed then the Flexible fund is 66.6% exposed
    2. The equity exposure of the Flexible fund should have a maximum soft limit of 80% (only relevant if AR fund long exposure is over 120%)

    Equity returns prior to the launch of the VT Argonaut Absolute Return Fund were taken from the long only European equity funds managed by Barry Norris at the time.

    Source of equity returns as follows:

    • Nov-02 to May-05 Neptune European Opportunities Fund
    • May-05 to Feb-09 VT Argonaut European Alpha Fund
    • Feb-09 to date VT Argonaut Absolute Return Fund

    Non-Equity Exposure: Bond exposure calculated using a fixed exposure of 10% of NAV, using US Treasury Bills (unhedged). Gold exposure calculated using a fixed exposure of 10%, using the WisdomTree Physical Gold ETF. Cash is calculated as the residual of the allocation to the other 3 asset classes above, using the Barclays Benchmark Overnight GBP Cash Index.

     

    Simulated Performance Since Inception (%)

    Simulated Performance Since Inception (%)

    Source: Argonaut Capital Partners LLP. VT Argonaut Flexible Fund Simulated track record methodology: Equity exposure calculated as 2/3rd of the VT Absolute Return Fund gross long book exposure, with a maximum soft limit of 80% (only relevant where AR long exposure is greater than 120%), using the long book return of the VT Argonaut Absolute Return Fund grossed up or down to 100%. Prior to the launch of the VT Argonaut Absolute Return fund, returns are taken from the long only European equity funds managed by Barry Norris at the time. Bond exposure calculated using a fixed exposure of 10% of NAV, using US Treasury Bills - Unhedged (S&P Treasury Bill Total Return Index – ticker SPBDUBIT Index). Gold exposure calculated using a fixed exposure of 10%, using the WisdomTree Physical Gold ETF (BB ticker PHAU LN). Cash is calculated as the residual of the allocation to the other 3 asset classes above, using the Barclays Benchmark Overnight GBP Cash Index (BB ticker BXIIBGBO Index). See above for further detail.

     

    VT Argonaut Flexible Fund Asset Allocation – Simulated

    VT Argonaut Flexible Fund Asset Allocation – Simulated

    VT Argonaut Flexible Fund Simulated asset allocation methodology: Equity exposure calculated as 2/3rd of the VT Absolute Return Fund gross long book exposure, with a maximum soft limit of 80% (only relevant where AR long exposure is greater than 120%). Bond exposure calculated using a fixed exposure of 10% of NAV, using US Treasury Bills (unhedged). Gold exposure calculated using a fixed exposure of 10%, using the WisdomTree Physical Gold ETF. Cash is calculated as the residual of the allocation to the other 3 asset classes above, using the Barclays Overnight GBP Cash Index. Equity exposure includes all equity related instruments. All sources, unless otherwise stated, are Argonaut Capital, Bloomberg & Morningstar. All data shown as at 31 July 2024. Asset allocation data prior to the launch of the VT Argonaut Absolute Return Fund (Feb-09) taken from the long only European equity funds managed by Barry Norris at the time, namely the Neptune European Opportunities Fund from Nov-02 to May-05 and the VT Argonaut European Alpha Fund from May-05 to Feb-09.

     

    For further information, download the latest Factsheet.

    Literature

  • All Argonaut funds use the same investment process to select stocks, which will also reflect our current investment views, but there are some key differences in the expected return profile of the different funds and their potential investment universe.

    The Absolute Return fund is a global long/short equity fund which aims to deliver a return profile which is uncorrelated to the stock market and therefore most other funds. It seeks to achieve this largely through “shorting” stocks it doesn’t like, which “hedges” the market exposure of the bigger “long” portfolio, stocks we think will appreciate in value. It may also use “leverage” to potentially enhance returns. The success of the strategy should therefore be measured in terms of “absolute” rather than “relative” returns.  The expected return profile may therefore offer valuable diversification for unitholders away from overall stock market direction.

    The Alpha and Income funds will usually be fully invested, predominantly in European equities, without any ability to “short” or “hedge” market exposure. The success of these strategies should therefore be measured in terms of “relative” performance to the European stock market. In addition, the Income fund will seek to maximise opportunities in high dividend yielding stocks, offering its unitholders attractive dividend income.