BlackRock European Absolute Alpha co-manager Stephanie Bothwell talks us through the benefits of being able to use long and short positions to manage investment risk, as well as how the portfolio has protected investors in what has been a very uncertain start to the year. She also talks us through the team’s decision to stop shorting the European banking sector and how the rising cost of fuel, utilities and food has made them cautious of the European consumer in recent times. Stephanie also explains why the fund is set up to provide investors with a differentiated return.

What's covered in this episode:

• The benefits of being able to long and short stock positions
• What the team look for in their long positions and why identifying short positions is more challenging
• How the portfolio has protected investor assets in these uncertain times
• Why the fund has stopped shorting the European banking sector
• Why they are wary of the outlook for the consumer in Europe in 2022
• Setting up the strategy to provide a differentiated return to markets

More about the fund:
BlackRock European Absolute Alpha co-managers Stefan Gries and Stephanie Bothwell have a fully flexible investment approach with this pan-European fund, in order to try and create positive returns regardless of market conditions. The fund offers a very wide range of opportunities – something which is enhanced by the ability to invest in both ‘long’ and ‘short’ ideas. It is also uncommon to see a fund invest in companies on both mainland Europe and in the UK, especially when also using a multi cap approach to invest in firms of all shapes and sizes.

Learn more on fundcalibre.com

Learn more on fundcalibre.com

Please remember, we’ve been discussing individual companies to bring investing to life for you. It’s not a recommendation to buy or sell. The fund may or may not still hold these companies at the time of listening. Elite Ratings are based on FundCalibre’s research methodology and are the opinion of FundCalibre’s research team only.