Schroders is giving investors access to three UK funds within its Schroder UK select Isa.
The Isa will invest 50 per cent in the Schroder UK equity fund, 30 per cent in the Schroder UK mid 250 fund and 20 per cent in the Schroder UK smaller companies fund,
The Schroder UK equity fund invests in a broad range of large well-established companies in different sectors, including banks, oil & gas, telecommunications and general retailers. Examples of holdings include GlaxoSmithKline, Shell and Vodafone.
The Schroder UK mid 250 fund aims to spot medium-sized companies, such as JJB Sports, which have good growth prospects, while the UK smaller companies takes a bottom-up approach to stockpicking. Individual companies are considered on their own merits. These are likely to be smaller companies which generate a strong cash flow and have excellent management teams behind them.
The UK is currently one for the most popular regions for investors and the beauty of this Isa is that it allows a spread of different sized companies within this region. However, the drawbacks are that investors are not diversifying investment risks on a global basis or across fund managers.
In addition, figures published by Autif last month show Isas have been badly hit by low investor confidence and may still need persuading to get back on the investment train.
According to Standard & Poor's, Schroder UK equity fund and Schroder UK smaller companies are first quartile based on £1,000 invested on a bid-to-bid basis with net income reinvested over three years to December 10, 2001. There is no three-year past performance for Schroder mid 250.