Fund overview
The Royal London Cash Plus Fund invests in cash, deposits, money market instruments and short-dated government securities. It aims to deliver a positive return in a range of market conditions without taking additional risk. This straightforward and transparent fund may be suitable for a range of investors looking to enhance the return on their investment without increasing their risk profile.
Managers
This fund is jointly managed by Craig Inches and Tom Meade.
Craig joined RLAM in January 2009 as a fund manager with the fixed interest team. He is responsible for the management of government bond portfolios including index-linked bonds, gilts and non UK sovereign debt. Craig joined RLAM after an 11 year career at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) where he was Fixed Income Investment Director. At SWIP, Craig built up a strong track record across a wide range of fixed income funds. Craig has an MSc in Investment Analysis from Stirling University and a BSc (Hons) in Actuarial Mathematics and Statistics from Heriot-Watt University.
Tom Meade is the Investment Director for Royal London’s cash management businesses, and oversees all aspects of the business including investments, new business, client services and operations. Tom has over 25 years’ experience in the liquidity management industry, His career began with the Union Group in 1978. In 1986 he moved to Guernsey and established a new branch of Union Discount Company. Tom returned to London in 1988 and was appointed Investment Director in 1991. Union Fund Management was renamed Royal London Cash Management in 2001 following its acquisition by the Royal London Group. Tom is a graduate of the University of Durham.
Investment approach
We believe the key to achieving consistent long term performance is through controlled portfolio construction. We seek to add excess return from adopting measured positions at an outright duration level, along the yield curve and at a stock level. The fund draws on the expertise of our government bond and cash management teams.
Cash
The portfolio only invests in straightforward, highly liquid instruments issued by a wide range of highly rated banks. This diversification spreads the credit risk and provides greater security for investors in the fund. All banks have the highest short-term rating from the major ratings agencies and any changes to those ratings would lead us to review the portfolio to ensure it maintained the highest credit quality .
Government bonds
Management of UK government bonds follows a top down process, but we believe significant value can be added through stock selection. Our investment approach for UK government bonds has two elements :
- assess the market drivers and their behaviour in a way that allows us to define the sources of incremental return and
- make sure that portfolio construction and risk allocation remain consistent with the portfolio objectives.