Five top global funds investors are ignoring

Finding the little-known investments that everyone else has missed is something all savers aspire to, but when it comes to buying funds, most of us are herding into the same few portfolios at an alarming rate.

Over the past three years, more than 97pc of net cash paid into global funds – those that are not constrained to one region – has been put into just nine of the 278 available funds.

Nick Train’s £8.9bn Lindsell Train Global Equity fund and Terry Smith’s £18.9bn Fundsmith Equity continue to prove incredibly popular among private investors.

While all of the most popular funds have excellent track records, investing into the same ones may prove an issue if the market changes, or they go through a period of poor performance.

Telegraph Money has highlighted five global funds that you might not have heard of, but are equally worthy of your money

Baillie Gifford Global Discovery is a £762m fund investing in smaller companies, as it believes they can grow much faster than their larger rivals. It is largely invested in fastoutperformed its peers, returning 81pc. The £637m fund is in the same mould as Mr Train’s and Mr Smith’s, in that it invests in companies with strong brands or franchises.

Ian Heslop and his team have managed the Merian Global Equity fund since 2007 and have a unique approach. The teams use algorithms to guide the portfolio, aiming to take human behaviour out of stock selection. Over the past decade, the £1.2bn fund has returned 296pc.

Manager James Thomson has been in charge of the £1.8bn Rathbone Global Opportunities since 2003, amassing an enviable track record. Over the past decade he has returned 281pc. Companies must be able to sustain growth without influence from external factors (such as a commodity prices) to feature.

Threadneedle Global Extended Alpha invests in larger companies but what differentiates from the others on this list is its ability to short stocks – betting that the share prices will fall. Neil Robson took charge in 2012 and has returned 189pc to investors, comfortably beating his peers.