There are tens of thousands of individuals and companies globally, all pertaining to be the best fund manager available. However, rather than add yet another name to this long list, Essential instead takes a more logical approach and asks the opinions of those who are recognised to be the best in the business.

Each month some 20-25 leading financial institutions (including the likes of Fidelity, BlackRock, HSBC and JP Morgan) provide their opinion on 15 different markets stating whether they expect them to go up, go down, or stay the same over the next twelve months. Essential then follows their consensus view (as even the experts often disagree with each other) when selecting the funds for our own strategies; moving out of markets displaying a neutral or negative forecast, and remaining or moving into markets with a positive outlook.

It is a consensus that carries a great deal of weight and credibility as these leading financial institutions have some 2,000 years experience and in excess of US$5 trillion under management between them. It is a tried and tested multi-manager approach that not only makes good sense, but one that has also comfortably outperformed the S&P500, FTSE, Hang Seng, Nekkei and World Index since launch.