This Castlestone FAANG + UCITS Fund review will highlight the features of this investment opportunity from Castlestone Management LLC, a New York-based independent investment advisory firm.
The firm manages two UCITS funds with an emphasis on stocks, one of which will be the focus of this post.
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As the facts can change from the time of writing, bear in mind the importance of consulting for financial advice before deciding on any investment.
Investing in international technology stocks, particularly the Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google dubbed the FAANG companies, is the primary means by which the Castlestone FAANG+ UCITS Fund seeks to achieve capital growth.
The FAANG Fund places a strong emphasis on exposure to tech development and application across industries, including consumer discretionary, communication services, and IT.
It was rolled out January 2, 2019, with USD serving as its base currency, albeit it provides share classes in British pounds and euros too.
As of March 2024, the Fund’s size hit nearly $267 million.
Minimum initial investment amount depends on the currency. It could be 10,000, 5,000 or 1,000.
The Fund’s sector allocations are roughly 45% and 25% respectively to tech and consumer discretionary, and 23% to communication services.
In terms of geography, the fund is mostly exposed to the US with nearly 70%, Europe 18.5%, and China 5%.
The top holdings in the FAANG investment include The London Tunnels Plc (12.71%), Apple Inc (7.25%), and Alphabet Inc Class C (7.15%).
Performance-wise, the USD-denominated Castlestone fund has logged increases of 13.25% in June alone plus 23.54% year-to-date. The Fund recorded significant gains in 2020 of 47.02% and losses in 2022 of 37.63% due to market volatility.
With a noteworthy 13.26% growth in June, the Castlestone FAANG+ UCITS Fund (GBP) demonstrated impressive YTD return of 23.96%. The Fund rose 43.07% in 2023, although it incurred a loss of 39.14% in 2022.
The Castlestone FAANG+ UCITS Fund (EUR) also posted a solid yield of 23.48% YTD, with a noteworthy gain of 13.28% for June. In 2023, the Fund logged a 42.60% jump; it dropped 38.84% in 2022.
There is an up to 1% monthly sales charge, a 4%–6% subscription cost, and a management fee that varies from 1.25% to 1.75%.
Additional expenses that investors may face include custodian fees, transaction costs related to purchasing and disposing of the fund’s underlying assets, and administrative fees.