“I have been investing in this fund on an on-and-off basis for the past four years,” says Romig. The Legg Mason Clearbridge US Aggressive Growth Fund is now the only active US equity fund he invests in, while the lion’s share of his US equity exposure is in index trackers and index futures.
Like many of his peers, he has difficulties to find active funds in the US equity space he thinks are worth paying for. “So if I can’t find these funds, I simply go passive,” he says. The Assenagon Multi Asset Wertsicherung (which means capital preservation) fund currently has a strong underweight to US equities: it has an exposure of 9% to US stocks versus 16% to European equities.
But why does Romig choose a fund which is on average more volatile than even the Russell 3000 Growth Index, which in itself shows larger price swings than the main S&P 500 Index? After all, his multi-asset fund targets risk averse investors.
“It’s true that the Clearbridge US Aggressive Growth Fund is not for people with weak nerves,” Romig admits. “However, when you look at the portfolio of my fund in its entirety, I believe it is able to digest the extra risk this particular fund brings with it,” he adds. “In general, we tend to invest more in defensive equity funds. But we haven’t yet been convinced of a good, defensive strategy in the US equity space.”
