The best balanced multi-asset funds
Basically, investors with multi-asset funds spread the risk of their investment across different asset classes. Since different providers weight the asset classes differently in their products, investors can also take their individual risk tolerance into account when selecting the specific product.
Conservative funds with a low proportion of shares are ideal for investors who are pursuing a defensive investment strategy, because the following generally applies: the higher the proportion of shares, the greater the opportunity and risk of your investment. With many products, it is unfortunately often difficult for private investors to see the ratio of their investments to the different asset classes.
The DWS Concept Kaldemorgen EUR LC (ISIN LU0599946893/WKN DWSK00) is particularly exemplary in terms of transparency. The flexible multi-asset fund is managed by what is probably Germany’s best-known manager: Klaus Kaldemorgen. The Kaldemorgen fund is a total return fund, so it is not based on benchmarks such as stock or bond indices. On the other hand, he always pursues the goal of achieving a positive return – whether the prices on the markets are rising or falling. The fund manager says he “wants to generate positive returns for the investor, while respecting his risk comfort zone, through a high degree of flexibility and sophisticated risk management”. Ultimately, this means that the Kaldemorgen fund would rather miss one or two opportunities than take too many risks. In line with this investment strategy, the accumulating DWS Concept Kaldemorgen is aimed more at security-oriented investors. Despite this “security concept”, the development is not to be scoffed at: In the past five years, the Kaldemorgen fund has achieved an average increase in value of almost 4.1 percent per year. The running costs (TER) are 1.53 percent per year, investors have to pay a one-time sales charge of 5.00 percent.
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When it comes to transparency, the distributing multi-asset fund UniStructure from Union Investment (ISIN LU1529950914/WKN A2DHJN) also stands out. Investors can easily understand the weighting of the investment groups here. Equities and conservative assets such as money market instruments and bonds balance each other out, with commodities accounting for a small proportion of fund assets. The fees are also shown transparently. The front-end load is five percent, the running costs (TER) are 1.62 percent. The Unistructure fund is particularly suitable for investors who value transparency in their investments and want to invest their capital in the medium or long term.
The distributing Allianz Global Investors Kapital Plus – A – EUR (ISIN DE0008476250/WKN 847625) has a relatively static weighting of 70 percent bonds and 30 percent equities. This conservative mix ratio in the Allianz fund is characterized over the long term by a high-yield but relatively low-fluctuation profile. The bond portion consists largely of bonds with good credit ratings. In addition, Allianz Global Investors Kapital Plus – A – EUR also pays attention to the quality of equity investments. The fund management invests primarily in growth stocks, i.e. stocks that Allianz Global Investors believe have above-average growth potential. The running costs are 1.15 percent per year, the front-end load is 3.00 percent.
For the accumulating Schroder ISF Global Multi-Asset Balanced (ISIN LU0776414087/WKN A1JYCF), the front-end load is 4.00 percent. Investors can get this at finanzen.net zero depot1 save, there are balanced investment funds without costs. The running costs (TER) of the Schroders fund are 1.57 percent. Schroders also provides specific information on the objectives of this fund, as the product description states: “The fund is designed to participate in rising markets while at the same time limiting losses to no more than 10 per cent of the fund’s value over a rolling 12 month period The fund invests directly in equities, bonds and money market instruments traded worldwide. The Schroder ISF Global Multi-Asset Balanced achieves a four-star rating from the analysis company Morningstar.
The distributing multi-asset fund Allianz Dynamic Multi Asset Strategy is available in three versions. With this Allianz fund, you as an investor can freely choose your desired product in terms of opportunity-risk: The Allianz Dynamic Multi Asset Strategy 15 (ISIN LU1089088071/WKN A117VN) is particularly suitable for conservative investors, the Allianz Dynamic Multi Asset Strategy 50 (ISIN LU1019989323/ WKN A1XCBF) for risk-conscious investors and the Allianz Dynamic Multi Asset Strategy 75 (ISIN LU1089088402/WKN A117VS) for particularly opportunity-oriented investors. The number behind the respective fund already gives an indication of the percentage of equities in the fund assets, but can also be higher or lower depending on the market situation. With a front-end load of 2 percent, the multi-asset fund Allianz Dynamic Multi-Asset Strategy 75 is the cheapest of the three “same” funds. With running costs (TER) of 0.96 percent, it did particularly well in our test of defensive funds.
If you prefer an accumulation fund then you can choose the Schroders International Selection Fund Flexible Retirement (ISIN LU0776413196/WKN A1JYBL) – formerly Schroder ISF Global Multi-Asset Conservative. The fund’s stated objective is capital appreciation and a return of 3 month Euribor +2 percent per annum (net of fees) over a market cycle. This is usually three to five years. Losses are also limited to a maximum of eight percent of the fund value during the investment period. This gives investors a good balance of opportunity and security.
A notice: Incidentally, you can also get this Schroders fund as a distributing multi-asset fund: Schroder ISF Global Multi-Asset Conservative A dist (ISIN LU0776413352/WKN A1JYBL).