The past three years have been a strong period for growth investors, with AI driving outsized returns from tech stocks and rewarding those willing to back innovation at scale.
The ride has certainly not been smooth, with sharp sell-offs punctuating the three-year period, but the theme continues to define today’s market.
For those hunting growth, Trustnet asked fund selectors which strategies they would back.
We begin with a global fund, chosen by Jemma Slingo, pensions and investment expert at Fidelity International, who pointed to Rathbone Global Opportunities. It has been managed by Alpha Manager James Thomson since 2003, with Sammy Dow serving as deputy manager since 2014.
“It is pleasingly straightforward in its approach: it wants star quality,” Slingo said.
The fund holds around 50-60 of the management team’s highest-conviction ideas. It typically steers clear of turnaround stories and businesses whose fortunes depend heavily on the wider economy, she noted.
“Performance wise, it has proved itself to be a reliable long-term holding – its lack of exposure to oil and gas has been a headwind this year but the long-term investment case remains intact,” Slingo said.
Over the 10 years to the end of 2025, the fund logged first quartile returns in the IA Global sector in five of those years.
Performance of the fund vs sector over 5yrs
Source: FE Analytics
Ben Yearsley, director at Fairview Investing, suggested Blue Whale Growth, managed by FE fundinfo Alpha Manager Stephen Yiu.
With less than 30 holdings in the portfolio, the £2.4bn fund is another highly concentrated pick, targeting a mix of high-quality and high-growth stocks.
The fund currently has almost 10% invested in Nvidia, 9.7% in Lam Research and 6.8% in Flutter Entertainment.
“You often get quality-growth portfolios – like Fundsmith Equity – but this is more dynamic,” Yearsley said.
“I also like the management team, as they have a very clear process and definitely seem hungry to succeed.”
Yearsley views the fund as a core long-term growth holding – albeit higher risk and more volatile, so those with less of an appetite for risk might instead consider it as a satellite holding.
Indeed, while the fund has logged first quartile returns over one, three and five years, it has proven more volatile. For example, over the year to the end of July 2026, Blue Whale Growth was in the most volatile quartile of the IA Global sector at 35.2%.
Performance of the fund vs sector over 5yrs
Source: FE Analytics
Next, Sheridan Admans, founder of Infundly, and Tom Bigley, fund analyst at interactive investor, both suggested funds from Capital Group.
Admans went with Capital Group New Economy Fund, a $2.1bn strategy targeting long-term capital growth by investing in companies that can benefit from innovation, exploit new technologies or provide products and services that meet the demands of an evolving global economy.
“I have chosen the fund because it provides meaningful exposure to structural growth without being confined to a single theme,” Admans said.
While its exposures to technology, AI and semiconductors are important elements, with the likes Alphabet, TSMC and Microsoft featuring in its top holdings, the opportunity set also extends into healthcare innovation, digital infrastructure, evolving consumer behaviour and disruptive business models, Admans noted.
He also pointed to the fund’s multi-manager team, which includes Matthews Cherian, Richmond Wolf and others, noting that this approach combines high-conviction stock selection with a diversity of perspectives and reduces dependence on any one individual.
“The portfolio also has clear exposure to long-duration growth companies and can therefore experience periods of significant volatility, particularly when interest rates rise or highly rated technology shares fall out of favour,” Admans added.
Over one year to the end of July 2026, Capital Group New Economy Fund logged a first-quartile return of 29.9% but a volatility of 23.1%.
Bigley picked Capital Group UK New Perspective, which targets businesses that stand to gain from changing global trade patterns and multi-generational shifts in the global economy.
“While the portfolio exhibits a modest growth bias, it is not constrained by style, sector or geography, allowing the managers to allocate capital to their highest conviction ideas as market leadership evolves,” he said.
“This is reflected in the portfolio's balanced regional positioning, with materially lower exposure to the US and greater allocations to Europe than the MSCI ACWI index.”
The fund has 56.1% invested in the US versus 66.6% of the index, while it has invested 24.4% in Europe versus 14.1%.
He acknowledged that the fund has struggled versus the benchmark in more recent years – in particular in 2022 as US tech names detracted from performance, including Tesla, Shopify and Meta.
“Over a longer 10-year horizon, the strategy has demonstrated its ability to deliver through different growth and value environments, generating an annualised return of 13.5%,” Bigley said.
For investors who want their growth allocation to come from different geographies, Europe and Asia stood out.
Paul Angell, head of investment research at AJ Bell, suggested the £4.7bn BlackRock European Dynamic strategy, which features on AJ Bell’s Favourite list.
It has been managed by Giles Rothbarth since 2019, with Angell noting he “impresses as he articulates macro views, which are incorporated within the bottom-up assessment of companies by BlackRock’s 20 strong European equity analyst team”.
He also worked closely with the fund’s previous portfolio manager, Alister Hibbert.
Rothbarth looks to invest in businesses with strong cashflow and earnings stories, based on bottom-up fundamental analysis, including consideration of macroeconomic sensitivity and structural changes.
“The fund can be dynamic with regards to its growth style – for example, rotating into more cyclical names in the second half of 2020,” Angell said.
According to AJ Bell, £10,000 invested in BlackRock European Dynamic in 2016 would be worth almost tripled to around £27,000 as of July 2025.
Growth of £10,000 in BlackRock European Dynamic since 2016
Source: AJ Bell
Finally, Ernst Knacke, head of research at Shard Capital, suggested the $2.7bn Veritas Asian strategy, which has been managed by FE fundinfo Alpha Manager Ezra Sun since its inception in 2004.
The fund invests in a concentrated portfolio of Asian equities (excluding Japan), with the aim of growing capital over time.
“This is a strategy with a proven competitive advantage and significant alignment of interest,” Knacke said.
“Sun combines secular themes coming out of Asia with local knowledge and in-depth company research to identify high-quality businesses with durable moats and aligned management teams.”
The result is a concentrated portfolio including TSMC, SK Hynix and Samsung.
While it has a definitive growth bias, Sun does not ignore valuation, as he is prepared to wait for the right price rather than chase an exciting narrative at any cost.
“The benchmark-agnostic, real-return mindset allows them to not merely to participate in Asia’s upside but to some extent protect investors from uncertainty and volatility,” Knacke said.
Performance of the fund vs sector over 5yrs
Source: FE Analytics