7 September 2026
Quilter’s WealthSelect, the UK’s largest managed portfolio service (MPS), has implemented a modest but deliberate shift towards value-oriented equities in the latest quarterly rebalance.
With market leadership continuing to be heavily concentrated, particularly within US mega-cap technology and AI-related businesses, the team believes the opportunity set is broadening and that markets are likely to become increasingly discerning, creating a more favourable backdrop for active managers, value strategies and selected small and mid-cap (SMID) opportunities. As such, passive US exposure has been reduced in favour of increased allocations to value and SMID cap stocks.
Elsewhere within the equity mix, the portfolios have also implemented a modest tilt towards value in Europe, adding to the Quilter Investors Europe (ex UK) Equity Income Fund in the Managed Portfolios and Edentree European in the Responsible Portfolios. In the Sustainable Portfolios, a modest tilt towards value has been implemented through higher allocations to the Lyrical GIVES and CT Sustainable Global Equity Income funds.
Meanwhile, value exposure in emerging markets has been increased specifically through the allocation to the Quilter Investors China Equity Fund in the Managed Portfolios, reflecting the fund’s more valuation-sensitive approach to portfolio construction and the attractive relative value available in parts of the Chinese market compared with a number of other emerging market countries.
There have been no changes to the headline asset allocation across the WealthSelect Managed and Responsible Portfolios, with high-level exposures returning to their previous model weights. This has resulted in some gains from equities being locked in, alongside further profit-taking in the Managed Portfolios from gold following another strong run from the Quilter Investors Precious Metals Equity Fund amid moves in US bond yields, with the proceeds used to top up allocations to fixed income and alternatives.
Across WealthSelect, the portfolios have shifted further away from passive gilt exposure towards active global government bond strategies as we get closer to the Autumn Budget. Consequently, the allocation to the Quilter Investors Global Government Bond Fund has been increased in the Managed Portfolios, while the Aegon Sustainable Sovereign Bond Fund allocation has been increased in both the Responsible and Sustainable Portfolios.
WealthSelect has grown significantly in recent years as the trend towards outsourcing investment propositions has accelerated. Supported by strong portfolio performance and continued inflows, assets under management reached £30bn in August, further cementing WealthSelect’s position as the UK’s largest MPS.
Helen Bradshaw, portfolio manager of Quilter’s WealthSelect MPS, said: “While market momentum has stayed strong, we remain mindful of elevated valuations in parts of the market, ongoing concentration risks within AI-related sectors, continued geopolitical uncertainty and the upcoming Budget. As a result, while we didn’t feel we needed to increase overall portfolio risk at this stage, we did want to refine some of the holdings and style tilts to help take advantage of these conditions.
“This concentration in equity markets, together with heightened volatility in bond yields, is creating a broader opportunity set for skilled active managers. In equities, it provides greater scope to add value through stock selection; in fixed income, managers can use their flexibility across duration, country exposure and yield curve positioning to navigate changing market conditions.
“While markets may continue to trudge on for now, there are still plenty of risks lurking beneath the surface. We want to make sure advisers and their clients are well placed to navigate any potential volatility, without overexposure to any one sector becoming their, or our, undoing.”
