Investing in large cap stocks with a view to achieving higher long-term values requires a great deal of company, sector and industry insight. The portfolio construction team along with the 25-member team of analysts of the US Large Cap Value Equity strategy rely on intense research to reach fair values of companies in their universe and identify investments that will bring increased total returns in the long term.

The Asian markets may provide an exciting long-term growth story, but not too many investors feel comfortable to invest in the foreign environment. The Asia Pacific Dividend Fund was set with the idea to provide exposure to this high-growth environment but in a more conservative way and with less volatility. The fund focuses on selecting stable and cash generating businesses that pay out higher than average dividends.

Focusing on the little-known arena of international small and mid-cap companies requires substantial enterprise and research. Joe Joseph and Randy Farina, portfolio managers of the Putnam International Capital Opportunities Fund, have built a portfolio comprising of the bottom 20% of international small cap companies, from developed markets by adopting a unique investment strategy of exploiting people’s emotions arising from stock price fluctuations.

With the premise that investors’ focus changes over time, Harindra de Silva, the manager of the Old Mutual Analytic U.S. Long/Short Fund, believes that the challenge for modern managers is adapting to changes in a systematic way. Quantitative in nature, the fund’s core competence is weighting the various data factors to provide meaningful rankings. Then it utilizes its research both to hold the attractive stocks and to short the unattractive ones.