Executive Director
A journey of growth and innovation
With more than a decade of investment innovation, disciplined execution and consistent long-term performance, the JPM UK Equity Plus Fund continues to demonstrate its ability to adapt and thrive in changing market environments.
Strategic investment approach
The JPM UK Equity Plus Fund’s core investment process is designed to identify stocks that are likely to outperform or underperform. By using an active extension structure, the fund can express negative conviction across a broader range of stocks than its long-only peers. This flexibility has been key to its success, helping the fund generate differentiated alpha.
The investment philosophy focuses on three core questions: Is it a good business? Is it attractively valued? Is the outlook improving? This practical approach helps keep the fund aligned with its long-term objectives.
The power of active extension
The fund’s active extension structure is a clear differentiator for this strategy. It provides greater exposure to the portfolio managers’ insights while maintaining the same net market exposure as traditional long-only portfolios. This approach has enabled the fund to achieve meaningful underweight positions in unattractive stocks, regardless of their benchmark weights, enhancing its alpha generation potential. By shorting stocks that are expensive, of poor quality and have weak operational momentum, the fund can capitalise on falls in their share prices, turning potential risks into opportunities.
Performance highlights
Its differentiated approach has allowed the fund to deliver strong returns over the past decade, outperforming the FTSE All-Share Index over that period. Alongside its annualised outperformance of 1.42% over the benchmark since inception, the fund has delivered similarly convincing returns over longer-term time periods.
If you had invested GBP 1,000 on 8 September 2015 in the JPM UK Equity Plus Fund, your investment would now have been worth close to GBP 3,000 as of 31 August 2026. That is approximately GBP 400 more than an equivalent investment in the broad UK market.
This has resulted in strong performance relative to its peer group, placing the fund in the third percentile of all funds within the Europe, Africa and Asia (EAA) Fund UK Large-Cap Equity Morningstar universe since its inception. It has achieved this with a realised tracking error of 4.6% and an information ratio in the 10th percentile relative to peers over the same period.
While the 10-year performance record is strong, it is also important to recognise the consistency with which these returns have been delivered. Looking at the rolling three-year peer group ranking on a quarterly basis, the fund has been in the top quartile in 70% of quarters and has never fallen below the second quartile. This range of outcomes reflects the strength of the active extension structure, the effectiveness of the core investment process in different market environments and the fund’s risk management.
The fund’s risk-adjusted performance is a testament to two distinctive features. The first is its robust core investment process, which efficiently identifies both attractive and unattractive stocks and works well in different market environments.
The second is its ability to manage risk by utilising short positions to mitigate incidental risks such as size or macro risks. By combining the two, the portfolio managers can identify winners and losers at the stock level, while managing many of the incidental risks for which they are not rewarded.
A decade of consistent excellence
The fund's consistent performance is supported by a highly experienced portfolio management team, backed by a global network of equity professionals. With a focus on value, quality, and momentum stocks, the fund has demonstrated its ability to outperform through market cycles, while seeking to deliver consistent long-term returns. The integration of machine learning models further supports the fund's ability to identify compelling investment opportunities and generate returns.
Conclusion
Building on more than a decade of achievement, the JPM UK Equity Plus Fund looks ahead from a position of strength, underpinned by the investment team’s enduring commitment to innovation and excellence. Its differentiated strategy and strong track record leave it well placed to continue navigating the complexities of the UK equity market and capturing compelling investment opportunities.