In the latest in our series taking a closer look at boutique investment houses and the strategies they run, Alex Paget explains what draws the Downing Fox multi-asset fund range he runs with Simon Evan-Cook to this particular type of corporate structure and, in this instance, to the Havelock Global Select Fund
I am going to be really original here and start this article with a Warren Buffett quote. The great man once said his first rule of investment was “Never lose money” (his second rule was never to forget the first one) – and the boutique I am focusing on today has really taken that advice to heart.
The firm is Havelock London, a global value boutique set up in 2018 by Matthew Beddall, who is also lead manager on its Global Select fund. This is one of our longest-standing holdings and has built up a very strong track record.
The basis of this performance has been its consistency. While it has, of course, gone through periods of relative underperformance – for example, the pre-COVID years and the era of Magnificent Seven dominance – it is among only 5% of global equity funds that have produced a positive absolute return in each calendar year since launch.
This is no mean feat – especially when you consider everything that has happened since 2018. It has been driven by the team’s value philosophy and focus on businesses with a track record of strong operating performance, financial discipline and a purchase price that does not require undue optimism about the future.
It is an all-cap fund – made up of around 40 stocks – that is not constrained by an index and is therefore genuinely active. Matthew and his team generate ideas through broad global screening to identify valuation anomalies – with screens used as a starting point rather than a decision tool.
“Potential ideas are worked up through deep fundamental analysis focused on understanding the business, identifying the market’s misunderstanding, assessing key risks and forming a clear valuation.
To our minds, this is a ‘proper’ boutique: focused, with buckets of skin – and soul – in the game.”
Potential ideas are then worked up through deep fundamental analysis focused on understanding the business, identifying the market’s misunderstanding, assessing key risks and forming a clear valuation. Only stocks where the team have a strong sense of intrinsic value and a credible variant view progress further, supported by selective primary research and internal challenge.
Portfolio construction is conviction led rather than formulaic: new positions typically enter at modest weights and are built gradually as confidence increases, with position sizing shaped by valuation upside, business risk, diversification and liquidity. The process remains valuation-driven throughout, with positions actively trimmed or increased as prices move towards or away from fair value, ensuring disciplined capital allocation over time.
This process is Matthew’s baby, which is interesting given the majority of his career was spent at Winton – a quant hedge fund – where he eventually served as chief investment officer. Though a ‘quant’ by training, then, he began his own personal foray into fundamental investing – inspired by the likes of Benjamin Graham – in his spare time.
Following a successful period at Winton, Matthew wanted to ‘scratch the itch’ of setting up a fundamental investment boutique focused on value investing – but using his experience in quantitative analysis. In his own words, there was a lot of “naivety” in that decision – they decided to launch at a time when no-one wanted a value fund with no clear sight of external capital). They have gone through the hard yards now, though, and have assets under management of some £250m.
While the philosophy has remained unchanged, the process has evolved over time as Matthew has matured as an investor. This has been shown by his – and his team’s – execution in 2026 so far where, having originally benefitted from exposure to precious metal producers and Japanese stocks in January, they were quick to act in selling down exposure based on valuation – a move that meant the fund then held up well during the Iran war-induced sell-off in March.
All told, this is a fund we have held since we launched our strategies and for which we continue to have high hopes. To our minds, it is a ‘proper’ boutique: focused, with buckets of skin – and soul – in the game run by a passionate and dedicated manager and team (plus its named after a pub in West London, which is a major tick from me). In a world where investors finally feel comfortable allocating to value funds again, this is a strong option.
Alex Paget is a fund manager at Downing Fund Managers
Wanted: ‘Bellitious’ fund managers
Our work sees us constantly on the hunt for what we call ‘bellitious’ fund managers – and if you have not come across the word before, that is because we made it up. Our reason for doing so? There is not a current word or phrase out there that adequately defines the types of investors we want to own in our portfolio.
Bellitious (adj.)
[bell-ish-uhs]
Driven to fight or endure great discomfort to follow one’s conscience; willing to break laws, rules or social norms in order to uphold one’s inner sense of what is right.
From belligerent/bellicose: being inclined to fight; and conscientious: being governed by conscience
Essentially, we are looking for managers who are absolutely obsessed with the way they invest, disciplined, intensely ‘bottom-up’ in their approach and with the courage to be different to the herd when they have the conviction to do so. This is why we tend to focus on boutiques as it is the type of corporate structure that is best suited to fostering independently-minded stockpickers. You need collective ‘skin in the game’ and, importantly, patience to stick it out when a strategy inevitably underperforms.
