BlackRock, Baillie Gifford and more are offering investors access to unconstrained strategies.
Investors often gravitate towards funds that do exactly what they say on the tin – a clear style, a defined region, a set benchmark or a neat sector silo. There is comfort in knowing exactly what you are buying.
But there is also something to be said for managers who aren’t boxed in. In a global market that has become dominated by a handful of mega-caps, the ability to roam freely across geographies, sectors, market caps and themes can be a genuine advantage.
As such, Trustnet asked fund selectors to highlight the ‘go anywhere’ funds and investment trusts they believe offer true flexibility and high-conviction stock picking.
Rob Morgan, chief analyst at Charles Stanley, identified the £1.1bn BlackRock Global Unconstrained Equity as a “punchy global option”.
The fund has been co-managed by Alister Hibbert – who Morgan said is “best known for his success in unconstrained European equity funds” – and FE fundinfo Alpha Manager Michael Constantis since its launch in 2020.
“The managers search for the ‘growth compounders’ of the coming decade and beyond, among mostly larger global companies, with no regard for any benchmark,” he said.
The portfolio has a notably higher price-to-book ratio of 9.29x and price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 34.56x. The ongoing charges figure (OCF) is currently 0.90%.
“This is a pure stock picking fund [with 22 portfolio holdings and] an uncompromising, unconstrained approach in the hands of accomplished managers,” Morgan said.
It has posted a first-quartile return in the IA Global sector thus far in 2026 and was highlighted by Trustnet as a strong performer in the wake of the initial sell-off following the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East and subsequent rally.
The fund is also in the first quartile for its five-year return to the end of May 2026, gaining 79.5%.
Performance of the fund vs sector over 5yrs
Source: FE Analytics
Morgan also suggested the $1.5bn Atlas Global Infrastructure fund, which is co-managed by a team of five: David Bentley, David McGregor, Peter Hyde, Rod Chisholm and Matthew Lorback.
“Markets often misprice infrastructure assets, which creates opportunities for skilled active management with deep experience and understanding of the sector,” Morgan said.
The fund – which is slightly more expensive than the BlackRock strategy with an OCF of 1.08% – aims to provide investors with exposure to a concentrated selection of high-quality infrastructure equities across developed countries.
“In contrast to many funds in the sector, which are quite widely spread, the managers undertake extensive due diligence to narrow the field down to only around 20 stocks,” he noted, adding that “this produces a genuine ‘best ideas’ portfolio with no regard for the benchmark”.
The fund has posted a first-quartile return in the IA Infrastructure sector over one, three and five years, gaining 75.9% over the half-decade.
Performance of the fund vs sector over 5yrs
Source: FE Analytics
In contrast, Hassan Raza, portfolio manager at CG Asset Management, turned to investment trusts, first suggesting the £1bn AVI Global Trust, managed by Joe Bauernfreund.
“It is an unconstrained portfolio of companies that is not afraid to rotate geographic exposure to pursue opportunities – over the years, we have seen the trust move with agility across the world based on its fundamental bottom-up research,” Raza said.
The trust currently has the biggest geographic exposure to Europe excluding the UK at 28%, followed by Korea (18%) and Japan (17%). Raza noted that the trust has added around 15% to Korean equities over the past eight months to capitalise on the amendments to shareholder rights, which should make corporate activism in the region easier.
AVI Global Trust was trading at an 8.7% discount to net asset value (NAV) as of 2 June 2026. Its net asset value (NAV) increased by 6.1% in April 2026, while the portfolio’s weighted average discount stood at 42%.
“AVI Global Trust’s NAV has delivered 11.5% per annum net of fees since 1985,” Raza said.
“As they [the managers] deepen their bench with Nicola Takada Wood bolstering the Japan sleeve, we think they offer a global ‘go anywhere’ equity product that diversifies investors away from richly priced US-centric portfolios, at a relatively low cost for genuine active management.”
Performance of the trust vs sector over 5yrs
Source: FE Analytics
Raza also highlighted BH Macro – a $1.9bn feeder fund into the Brevan Howard Master hedge fund.
“The fund takes a global macro approach where portfolio managers can trade across geographies and asset classes,” Raza explained, noting it has delivered strong returns during challenging market swings, including Covid (when it gained around 42%) and the 2015 China bubble (where it gained 9%).
“It can play a diversifying role for a broad portfolio that can tolerate a less transparent approach and some volatility,” he said.
Raza added that these periods of strong performance typically coincide with material discount narrowing, with the board “taking a more vigorous approach to buybacks”.
“At wide enough discounts, we think BH Macro is a cheap way to access global macro exposure compared to eyewatering fees in fund-of-fund structures.”
The trust’s discount to NAV currently sits around just shy of 6%.
Performance of the trust vs sector over 5yrs
Source: FE Analytics
Also looking at investment trusts, Ben Yearsley, director at Fairview Investing, pointed to Baillie Gifford’s Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust – a £13bn vehicle that invests in a combination of global private and public companies deemed innovators among their peers.
“Many may disagree with my choice here, as it does tend to invest only in high-growth companies,” Yearsley said.
“However, the managers are simply looking for any company that can at least double in value over the next five years – quoted or unquoted and regardless of sector. It’s ultimately unconstrained and will go anywhere.”
This includes investing in pioneering private businesses like Anthropic and SpaceX.
FE fundinfo Alpha Manager Tom Slater and deputy manager Lawrence Burns typically hold investments for long periods with limited turnover.
It has posted a first quartile return in the IT Global sector over one, three and 10 years to the end of May 2026, gaining 513.2% over the decade.
Performance of the trust vs sector over 10yrs
Source: FE Analytics