Morningstar

Trojan (Ireland) O GBP Acc

Analyst Report
Morningstar's Take
|21/01/2025
by Tom Mills
Troy has informed us that Charlotte Yonge, assistant manager on Trojan Fund, Trojan Fund (Ireland), and Personal Assets Trust, will become the vehicles’ comanager on May 1, 2025, alongside Sebastian Lyon, who has led the multi-asset Trojan strategy since inception in 2001. Yonge joined Troy in 2013 and has been assistant manager of the strategy since 2018, as well as sole manager of Trojan Ethical Fund since its inception in 2019.

There is no change to the existing decision-making structure, with Yonge already having a valuable level of input to the strategy, commensurate with a comanager in our view, while CIO and founder Lyon has ultimate accountability. We consider this a logical next step in long-term succession planning, and we maintain the strategy’s People Pillar rating of High.

 
Trojan Fund is a strong choice for investors seeking capital preservation and long-term capital growth. Its highly experienced manager and consistent implementation of a straightforward process distinguish the strategy from the competition.

Morningstar has enhanced the way we assess alpha opportunity for funds, which is a key component in our Morningstar Medalist Rating calculation. More of this strategy's Medalist Ratings than usual may therefore change with this update even in the absence of changes to pillar ratings or fund costs.

Sebastian Lyon, who has more than three decades of experience in multi-asset investing, has run Trojan Fund since its launch in 2001. He began his career at Singer & Friedlander, then comanaged the GEC pension fund at Stanhope, where he had responsibility for asset allocation. In 2000, he left to form Troy Asset Management, with the backing of Lord Weinstock, to run the Weinstock family’s portfolio. Trojan Fund was launched the following year, and the group provides a very solid and supportive environment for Lyon, who works alongside other experienced investment professionals including assistant manager Charlotte Yonge.

Lyon is a cautious investor who believes the preservation of wealth is an important step in the overall growth of assets in the long term. This ethos has served him and investors well in the Trojan strategy. Both asset allocation and stock-selection decisions are made from the standpoint of minimizing drawdowns and avoiding a permanent loss of capital. Lyon focuses on companies that have the potential to generate healthy cash flows over the longer term. Asset allocation is an important part of his overall framework, both to protect capital in times of stress and to take advantage of opportunities when presented. He may invest in equities, government bonds, inflation-linked bonds, and precious metals (mainly gold), and he uses cash actively.

Returns since inception have been strong, benefiting from a higher-quality bias in stock selection, while Lyon's use of inflation-linked bonds and cash has also been additive. Risk-adjusted returns in particular have been very impressive throughout the strategy’s life. Defensive positioning left returns trailing the Morningstar Category benchmark in both 2023 and 2024 as markets rose, but longer-term performance remains superior in both absolute and risk-adjusted terms.

Lyon’s ability as an asset allocator, along with the simplicity and consistent implementation of the process, have helped the strategy deliver impressive long-term returns while providing shelter in the most adverse markets.
 
Morningstar Medalist Rating™This flexible multi-asset fund has achieved long-term success through a cautious approach.
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Morningstar Pillars
PeopleHigh
ParentAbove Average
ProcessHigh
 
Morningstar Medalist RatingMorningstar assigns the Medalist Rating to funds that are qualitatively and quantitatively assessed through manager research and algorithmic processes. The assessment turns on three key “pillars” – People, Process, and Parent – that yield an estimate of how well a fund will perform before fees but after adjusting for risk.
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In order to provide consistency across the report data provided by different Asset Managers, the calculated data points presented are generated using Morningstar’s proprietary calculation methodology which is set out in more detail at(https://www.morningstar.com/research/signature)
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