Ready-made portfolios changes in May 2023

In May 2023, we made changes to all four AJ Bell Ready-made portfolios. On this page you’ll find a breakdown of all the changes we made.

Summary of changes

• Fixed income allocation has changed with increased exposure to investment-grade and high-yield bonds, while reducing exposure to government bonds.
• We've reduced exposure to shares, slightly decreasing UK shares, significantly decreasing exposure to global shares and adding a specific emerging markets allocation..
• Alternative exposure has broadly remained unchanged, although we have altered the asset class of our allocation with exposure coming from a multi asset strategy instead of a single alternative asset class.
• We’ve added a cash holding to every portfolio except ‘Adventurous’.

Full details on the changes we’ve made to each portfolios asset allocations and holdings can be found by moving through each portfolio’s details below.

• Cautious

  How we've changed the asset allocation

  The table below shows you our new portfolios asset allocations. If you’d like to rebalance your portfolio to reflect our changes, you should aim for the percentages shown here. Just remember this is information only, and not a personal recommendation to buy or sell these investments.

  Cautious	New allocations
  Shares	22%
  Liontrust UK Growth (New)	5%
  JPM Emerging Markets Income (New)	4%
  JPM Global Equity Income (New)	13%
  Fixed income	55%
  TwentyFour Corporate Bond	17%
  Royal London Corporate Bond	17%
  Artemis Strategic Bond (New)	21%
  Alternatives	5%
  Troy Trojan (New)	5%
  Cash	18%
  Blackrock ICS Sterling Liquidity Premier (New)	18%
  Total	100%

  Following our review, we removed or adjusted the following allocations:

  Cautious	Current allocation	Previous allocation
  Shares
  NinetyOne UK Alpha	Removed	6%
  Fidelity Global Special Situations	Removed	20%
  Fixed income
  TwentyFour Corporate Bond	17%	20%
  Royal London Corporate Bond	17%	20%
  Fidelity Strategic Bond	Removed	28%
  Alternatives
  Janus Henderson Absolute Return	Removed	6%

  Why have we added these funds?

  Further information on the below funds can be accessed through the Favourite funds page.

  • Artemis Strategic Bond – Previously used in other portfolios, blends well within the new portfolio.
  • Blackrock ICS Sterling Liquidity – Following the sharp rise in interest rates over the past 12 months, holding cash like instruments is now a viable asset class. The Blackrock ICS Sterling Liquidity fund has a long heritage and is managed by an experienced duo who seek to manage the fund to maximise income whilst preserving capital.
  • JPM Emerging Markets Income – Added for dedicated exposure to emerging markets (EM) exposure. A credible EM income strategy with a breadth of analytical support combined with a dedicated portfolio management team, the fund offers diversification of sector and country to achieve capital growth and income.
  • JPM Global Equity Income – The fund is managed by an experienced management team who have access to an extensive pool of analysts. The team hold a pragmatic investment philosophy targeting a balanced approach between income yield and capital growth.
  • Liontrust UK Growth – We have conviction in this management team who hold a clear philosophy and investment process that have been tried and tested over time. The structure ensures a disciplined and pragmatic investment approach, offering a competitive advantage. The longevity of the team and consistency of implementation provides credibility, with a strong focus on long-term sustainability of profits on companies held within the portfolio.
  • Trojan Fund – Offers investors exposure in a multi asset vehicle that has flexibility to vary allocations to any of their four asset classes; shares, fixed income, precious metals and cash (cash like investments).

  Why have we removed these funds?

  • Fidelity Global Special Situations – Other options in the sector blend well within this portfolio. This fund remains on our Favourite fund list.
  • Fidelity Strategic Bond – following a review of the sector, we removed the fund owing to higher-conviction options in this part of the market.
  • Janus Henderson Absolute Return – we removed this fund following a broader review of the sector, and because we have other preferences in this part of the market.
  • NinetyOne UK Alpha – we considered our Favourite fund list to be overpopulated with choice in the UK sector and have removed the fund in favour of other preferred options in the sector.
• Balanced

  How we've changed the asset allocation

  The table below shows you our new portfolios asset allocations. If you’d like to rebalance your portfolio to reflect our changes, you should aim for the percentages shown here. Just remember this is information only, and not a personal recommendation to buy or sell these investment.

  Balanced	New allocations
  Shares	55%
  Liontrust UK Growth (New)	8%
  Jupiter UK Special Situations	7%
  JPM Emerging Markets Income (New)	16%
  JPM Global Equity Income (New)	24%
  Fixed income	34%
  Royal London Corporate Bond (New)	26%
  Invesco High Yield (New)	8%
  Alternatives	5%
  Troy Trojan (New)	5%
  Cash	6%
  Blackrock ICS Sterling Liquidity Premier (New)	6%
  Total	100%

  Following our review, we removed or adjusted the following allocations:

  Balanced	Current allocation	Previous allocation
  Shares
  NinetyOne UK Alpha	Removed	10%
  Jupiter UK Special Situations	7%	6%
  Trojan Global Income	Removed	15%
  Fidelity Global Special Situations	Removed	30%
  Fixed income
  TwentyFour Corporate Bond	Removed	10%
  Fidelity Strategic Bond	Removed	23%
  Alternatives
  Janus Henderson Absolute Return	Removed	6%

  Why have we added these funds?

  Further information on the below funds can be accessed through the Favourite funds page.

  • Blackrock ICS Sterling Liquidity – Following the sharp rise in interest rates over the past 12 months, holding cash like instruments is now a viable asset class. The Blackrock ICS Sterling Liquidity fund has a long heritage and is managed by an experienced duo who manage the fund to maximise income whilst preserving capital.
  • Invesco High Yield – This is a core High Yield strategy. The fund has experienced fund managers with a tried and tested investment approach underpinned by a clear investment philosophy. The performance has been excellent relative to the broader Investment Association (IA) £ High Yield peer group over time, both in absolute terms and on a risk-adjusted basis.
  • JPM Emerging Markets Income – Added for dedicated exposure to emerging markets (EM) exposure. A credible EM income strategy with a breadth of analytical support combined with a dedicated portfolio management team, the fund offers sufficient compositional breadth, while ensuring diversity of drivers underpinning its dividend.
  • JPM Global Equity Income – The fund is managed by an experienced management team who have access to an extensive pool of analysts. The team hold a pragmatic investment philosophy targeting a balanced approach between income yield and capital growth.
  • Liontrust UK Growth – We have conviction in this management team who hold a clear philosophy and investment process that have been tried and tested over time. The structure ensures a disciplined and pragmatic investment approach, offering a competitive advantage. The longevity of the team and consistency of implementation provides credibility, with a strong focus on long-term sustainability of profits on companies held within the portfolio.
  • Royal London Corporate Bond – Previously used in other portfolios, blends well within the new portfolio.
  • Trojan Fund – Offers investors exposure in a multi asset vehicle that has flexibility to vary allocations to any of their 4 asset classes; shares, fixed income, precious metals and cash (cash like investments).

  Why have we removed these funds?

  • Fidelity Global Special Situations – Other options in the sector blend well within this portfolio. This fund remains on our Favourite fund list.
  • Fidelity Strategic Bond – following a review of the sector, we removed the fund owing to higher-conviction options in this part of the market.
  • Janus Henderson Absolute Return – we removed this fund following a broader review of the sector, and because we have other preferences in this part of the market.
  • NinetyOne UK Alpha – we considered our Favourite fund list to be overpopulated with choice in the UK sector and have removed the fund in favour of other preferred options in the sector.
  • Trojan Global Income – This has been removed as we sought to consolidate and diversify the list in this part of the market. 
  • TwentyFour Corporate Bond - Removed to allow for exposure to High Yield.
• Adventurous

  How we've changed the asset allocation

  The table below shows you our new portfolios asset allocations. If you’d like to rebalance your portfolio to reflect our changes, you should aim for the percentages shown here. Just remember this is information only, and not a personal recommendation to buy or sell these investment.

  Adventurous	New allocations
  Shares	85%
  Liontrust UK Growth (New)	13%
  Jupiter UK Special Situations	11%
  ASI Global Smaller Companies	9%
  JPM Emerging Markets Income (New)	22%
  JPM Global Equity Income (New)	30%
  Fixed income	10%
  Invesco High Yield (New)	10%
  Alternatives	5%
  Troy Trojan (New)	5%
  Total	100%

  Following our review, we removed or adjusted the following allocations:

  Adventurous	Current allocation	Previous allocation
  Shares
  NinetyOne UK Alpha	Removed	15%
  Jupiter UK Special Situations	11%	8%
  ASI Global Smaller Companies	9%	10%
  Trojan Global Income	Removed	28%
  Fidelity Global Special Situations	Removed	28%
  Fixed income
  Artemis Strategic Bond	Removed	8%
  Alternatives
  Janus Henderson Absolute Return	Removed	3%

  Why have we added these funds?

  Further information on the below funds can be accessed through the Favourite funds page.

  • Liontrust UK Growth – We have conviction in this management team who hold a clear philosophy and investment process that have been tried and tested over time. The structure ensures a disciplined and pragmatic investment approach, offering a competitive advantage. The longevity of the team and consistency of implementation provides credibility, with a strong focus on long-term sustainability of profits on companies held within the portfolio.
  • JPM Emerging Markets Income – Added for dedicated exposure to emerging markets exposure. A credible emerging markets (EM) income strategy with a breadth of analytical support combined with a dedicated portfolio management team, the fund offers sufficient compositional breadth, while ensuring diversity of drivers underpinning its dividend.
  • JPM Global Equity Income – The fund is managed by an experienced management team who have access to an extensive pool of analysts. The team hold a pragmatic investment philosophy targeting a balanced approach between income yield and capital growth.
  • Invesco High Yield – This is a core High Yield strategy. The fund has experienced fund managers with a tried and tested investment approach underpinned by a clear investment philosophy. The performance has been excellent relative to the broader Investment Association (IA) £ High Yield peer group over time, both in absolute terms and on a risk-adjusted basis.
  • Trojan Fund – Offers investors exposure in a multi asset vehicle that has flexibility to vary allocations to any of their four asset classes; shares, fixed income, precious metals and cash (cash like investments).

  Why have we removed these funds?

  • Artemis Strategic Bond - Removed to allow for exposure to High Yield.
  • Fidelity Global Special Situations – Other options in the sector blend well within this portfolio. This fund remains on our Favourite fund list.
  • Janus Henderson Absolute Return – we removed this fund following a broader review of the sector, and because we have other preferences in this part of the market. 
  • NinetyOne UK Alpha – we considered our Favourite fund list to be overpopulated with choice in the UK sector and have removed the fund in favour of other preferred options in the sector.
  • Trojan Global Income – This has been removed as we sought to consolidate and diversify the list in this part of the market. 
• Income

  How we've changed the asset allocation

  The table below shows you our new portfolios asset allocations. If you’d like to rebalance your portfolio to reflect our changes, you should aim for the percentages shown here. Just remember this is information only, and not a personal recommendation to buy or sell these investment.

  Income	New allocations
  Shares	55%
  Blackrock UK Income (New)	8%
  MAN GLG Income Professional	7%
  JPM Emerging Markets Income (New)	15%
  JPM Global Equity Income (New)	15%
  Schroder Global Equity Income	10%
  Fixed income	34%
  Royal London Corporate Bond (New)	26%
  Invesco High Yield (New)	8%
  Alternatives	5%
  Troy Trojan (New)	5%
  Cash	6%
  Blackrock ICS Sterling Liquidity Premier (New)	6%
  Total	100%

  Following our review, we removed or adjusted the following allocations:

  Income	Current allocation	Previous allocation
  Shares
  Trojan Income	Removed	8%
  MAN GLG Income Professional	8%	7%
  Schroder Global Equity Income	10%	14%
  Evenlode Global Income	Removed
  JPM US Equity Income	Removed
  Fixed income
  TwentyFour Corporate Bond	Removed	20%
  Artemis Strategic Bond	Removed	13%
  Alternatives
  First Sentier Global Listed Infrastructure	Removed	6%

  Why have we added these funds?

  Further information on the below funds can be accessed through the Favourite funds page.

  • Blackrock UK Income – This is a core UK Equity Income strategy. The strategy offers a pragmatic style agnostic approach and is managed by an experienced and well-established management team at BlackRock. The investment approach seeks above average income returns against the benchmark without sacrificing long-term capital growth.
  • JPM Emerging Markets Income – Added for dedicated exposure to emerging markets exposure. A credible Emerging Markets (EM) income strategy with a breadth of analytical support combined with a dedicated portfolio management team, the fund offers sufficient compositional breadth, while ensuring diversity of drivers underpinning its dividend.
  • JPM Global Equity Income – The fund is managed by an experienced management team who have access to an extensive pool of analysts. The team hold a pragmatic investment philosophy targeting a balanced approach between income yield and capital growth.
  • Royal London Corporate Bond – Previously used in other portfolios, blends well within the new portfolio.
  • Invesco High Yield – This is a core High Yield strategy. The fund has experienced fund managers with a tried and tested investment approach underpinned by a clear investment philosophy. The performance has been excellent relative to the broader IA £ High Yield peer group over time, both in absolute terms and on a risk-adjusted basis.
  • Trojan Fund – Offers investors exposure in a multi asset vehicle that has flexibility to vary allocations to any of their four asset classes; shares, fixed income, precious metals and cash (cash like investments).
  • Blackrock ICS Sterling Liquidity – Following the sharp rise in interest rates over the past 12 months, holding cash like instruments is now a viable asset class. The Blackrock ICS Sterling Liquidity fund has a long heritage and is managed by an experienced duo who manage the fund to maximise income whilst preserving capital.

  Why have we removed these funds?

  • Artemis Strategic Bond - This has been removed to include exposure to High Yield.
  • Evenlode Global Income – Other options in the sector blend well within this portfolio. This fund remains on our Favourite fund list.
  • First Sentier Global Listed Infrastructure - This has been switched out for an allocation to a multi asset strategy we consider serve investors well in this portfolio. This fund remains on our Favourite fund list.
  • JPM US Equity Income – We have removed country specific exposure for more of an allocation to Global and Emerging Markets. This fund remains on our Favourite fund list
  • TwentyFour Corporate Bond - Other options in the sector blend well within this portfolio. This fund remains on our Favourite fund list.
  • Trojan Income – Following sector review and list consolidation, we have removed the fund from the list owing to preferences elsewhere within the sector.

For more information on each our portfolios, including the performance of the funds included, head over to our Ready-made portfolio hub. You'll also find a helpful tool showing you how you could split your investments based on our latest update.