At first glance, there seems little rhyme or reason behind the portfolio of Henderson Opportunities Trust. Its investments range from unproven tiddlers such as 4D Pharma, which is developing treatments using natural bacteria found in the gut, to corporate behemoths such as HSBC and Rio Tinto.
This is a classic stockpickers’ fund, aiming to find capital growth across the market. The fund manager, James Henderson, a scion of the Henderson City dynasty, created the fund in 2006. It grew out of Lowland, a trust dating from 1990 that is more focused on income. He became frustrated that this approach would not lend itself to spotting absolute value. The fund is concentrated on UK-quoted companies.
Mr Henderson admits that this focus on value can lead