Much market discussion wherever canapes are taken this Christmas will doubtless focus on the prospects for the US equity market after a year in which its heavy tech weighting led the way.
US equities are of course typically associated with the growthier end of the market but over the course of 2023 exposure to this market has been ticking up in income portfolios - hitting 10.6 per cent currently. At the end of last year average exposure was 9.7 per cent.
The Evelyn Active income portfolio gives the most weighting to the US market, with James Burns and his team parking 20 per cent here. The second largest allocation is the 18.8 per cent held by Brewin Dolphin followed by the 18.6 per cent held by John Husselbee and James Klempster at Liontrust.
At the other end of the distribution, You Asset Management have none of their income portfolio in US equity funds, while Iboss have just 4 per cent.
Regular readers will by now probably be familiar with the fact that JPM US Equity Income is the most popular of any kind in our database, with 12 owners. This dominance continues, as one would expect, in our income database where it is held by 11 portfolio managers.
Manager Clare Hart has run the fund for 14 years, though news of her forthcoming departure in 2024 has not deterred allocators, with no sell-offs seen since JP Morgan’s announcement in September.
It has been a difficult 2023, however, with the fund losing more than 3 per cent so far. The fund has also shrunk in size from $4.7bn at the start of 2023 to £3.6bn today.
It is probably not surprising the fund has underperformed this year, as its income requirements means it won't have the same level of exposure the handful of stocks which have powered the US market in recent years as other growth funds.
Elsewhere, Schroder US Equity Income Maximiser has picked up two new buyers this year, becoming the second most popular pick with four houses.
