‘If a company doesn’t rule its market, we won’t invest’

The Trojan Global Equity fund has a multipurpose goal: be a safe place to be when stock markets suddenly drop, but not at the expense of strong returns in the good times.

The £295m fund owns a number of household names, such as Microsoft, Google and PayPal, and has pleased investors by doubling their money over five years – well ahead of the market.

The fund’s managers, Gabrielle Boyle and George Viney, tell Telegraph Money about the allure of American stocks and why it helps to be a historian.

GB:

You need to be a patient investor and have a long-term view. We will achieve strong returns from stock markets, but only over a long period.

GB:

We look for exceptional companies that provide a high return on investment. They must have predictable cash flow, make a lot of profit, and not have a lot of debt.

Companies should be leaders in their industry and have built up their market share over a long time or do something that cannot be replicated. Ideally, we should use their goods or services every day.

We also don’t want to have to pay too much, as this risks our capital.

GV:

We don’t invest in businesses that only make profit at some times but not others, or those with low profit margins. We also don’t invest in businesses that have too much competition. We think the world is complex enough, so don’t get involved in companies with complex financial and business models, and avoid companies that are overhyped.

GB:

While we have strict rules on what we own, we’re very openminded about what our companies sell or what industry they’re in.

We also do our homework. Some companies have been around since the 19th century, so we look at the history and find out what created them and made them what they are. We are social historians as well as investors.

We also do not overpay. We recognise that the businesses we want are special and will not be cheap, but have strict limits on this.

Another thing that differentiates me is that I’m female. There aren’t that many of us in the industry. I have four children and manage my fund like one of my children. We take our responsibility managing other people’s money very seriously. I think Alphabet, Google’s holding company, is a good example of a firm growing quickly but not being overpriced. It t is capable of growing more re and its services ces are a good example of what we like: : they define their markets. We feel the business can expand at a fast rate because ecommerce, espec especially mobile eco ecommerce, is still in its very early sta stages. Google will be the gateway to incr increasing these levels.

with other funds. But our investments are spread across different industries.

The stocks also offer defence in rough markets, and if there are pockets of weakness in any one country, they are able to manage that.

We own only a few stocks, and the portfolio doesn’t change much year to year.

GV:

We owned Tesco between 2011 and 2012 as it started to struggle with falling profits. We learnt a lesson, sold the shares and have not gone back.

We saw the way the winds were blowing and moved on. Retail is so competitive, margins are incredibly tough.

We are less keen on investing there now as it is a much tougher place to make money.

GB: GB:

We both have a very significant amount of our money invested in the fund.

We are paid a salary and a bonus that is dictated by the performance of the fund, but there is no formula or details that we are willing to go into.