What is the Experts' shortlist? < Back to summary
The Aviva Experts' shortlist comprises around 70 active funds which sit alongside a short list of passive funds.
The value of investments can go down as well as up. You may get back less than has been invested.
Aviva Experts' shortlist active funds
The global investment company of Aviva, Aviva Investors, have provided a list of funds which they feel stand out from their peers and that offer the best potential for investors across a broad range of sectors or markets.
Actively managed funds are run by professional fund managers, from other companies, who make all the investment decisions: such as what to invest in or when to buy and sell assets. In doing this, they're aiming to outperform an investment benchmark or index.
Aviva Experts' shortlist passive funds
Passive funds are investments made according to a pre-determined strategy. The strategy is usually designed to closely follow an index meaning that investment charges are usually lower for passive funds.
The most popular method is to track (you'll often hear passive funds called 'trackers') the performance of a specific index such as FTSE100. This is done by investing in the stocks or shares that make up the index.
A passive fund is driven by the performance of the particular sector or index it follows. If the index does well, so does the passive fund and if the index falls in value, so will the fund. A passive fund won't change the way it's run no matter how it performs. Its success is measured in how closely it follows the chosen index, rather than seeking to outperform the index.
Aviva's buying power means we can normally negotiate improved terms with investment companies - which we'll always pass on to you. This is particularly important when selecting passive funds.
How are the funds picked? < Back to summary
The active Experts' shortlist has been chosen by the Aviva Investors Multi-Manager research team. The team identifies managers of active funds they feel offer the best potential to investors over the medium to long term. They do this by evaluating a fund manager's capabilities against what they call the '7Ps' criteria, shown below.
| 7P | What do Aviva Investors test against? |
|---|---|
| Parent | Corporate overview and assessment, product diversity, overall AUM (Assets under Management), ownership structure. |
| Product | Capacity/viability, fee structure, investor concentration, dilution/spread, construction, is the objective appropriate? |
| People | Key decision makers, experience of team members, team stability, remuneration, succession planning. |
| Philosophy | Manager's beliefs, how do they believe they can generate excess returns and in what circumstances. |
| Process | Is it clear, understandable, robust and repeatable? How are the risks managed/monitored? Is the process consistent with the philosophy? |
| Positioning | Current views and portfolio positioning. - ensures coherency and consistency with philosophy and process. Evidence depth of knowledge. |
| Performance | Has the fund met its objectives? What are the performance drivers? Are these consistent with the process? Review of risk adjusted returns. |
Aviva Investors integrate environmental, social and governance factors in their due diligence, investment analysis, decision making and monitoring activities.
No category is more important than another and there are not necessarily right or wrong answers. The team scores each category and then delivers an overall rating to the fund.
Please note, the passive funds do not get assessed against the '7Ps' criteria. Whilst Aviva Investors carry out due diligence on the provider, the funds are primarily chosen based on coverage and cost.
Aviva Investors' funds
Alongside the Experts' shortlist, in some sectors we also show funds managed by Aviva Investors. The funds sit in the same sector or market as the Experts' shortlist and are actively managed by expert fund managers.
It is important to note that we don't apply the 7Ps criteria to these funds due to conflicts of interest. We display them alongside the Experts' shortlist so that you have a choice when deciding which fund/s might be suitable for you.
Will the Experts' shortlist change? < Back to summary
The Aviva Experts' shortlist may change over time. We continually monitor the Experts' shortlist to ensure the funds meet our selection criteria.
- If a fund no longer meets our criteria it will be removed from the Experts' shortlist but may still remain in our full range.
- You'll still remain invested in a fund if it is removed from the Experts' shortlist and remains available on the platform.
- We won't inform you directly if one of your funds is removed from the Experts' shortlist, though changes will be reflected on this site.