Growth funds - low risk

Clerical Medical Monthly Distribution
Tim Rees has been at the helm since January 1996. Rees manages the equity portion of the fund, which is generally around 70 per cent, and the fixed income team manages the bond portion, which is generally around 30 per cent.

Individual stocks are selected taking account of their yield, which must be above that of the market, with no formal limits placed on sector allocation, although individual stocks can be up to 4 per cent above the benchmark weighting, the benchmark being the FTSE All Share index.

Rees picks stocks from across the different market capitalisation sizes and tends to look for those stocks that are out of favour, and which have good recovery potential - maybe because they have financial or management strengths.

Buying and selling of stocks within the fund is very low as the manager prefers to stay with his stock selections and only sells on yield or value considerations. There tends to be no overseas exposure within the fund.

Despite the fact that the fund does provide monthly income, it is managed for a total return and growth investors can reinvest the income.

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Growth funds - medium risk

Fidelity Wealthbuilder
Richard Skelt has managed this fund since its launch in 1996. It is a "fund of funds" that operates on a two-tier approach. The asset allocation strategy is set by Skelt, and he then invests in the appropriate Fidelity funds from the full range on offer to him from Fidelity.

Skelt himself is widely regarded as one of the best in his field and his 10 years of investment experience have all been served with Fidelity. Just two years into his career he became a research director, a position he continues to hold today.

Within each region Skelt aims to take a balanced approach, which means that he holds a mix of core and specialist funds to produce a good opportunity for superior returns, whilst keeping a close eye of the risk he is taking.

The UK exposure will never be less than 40 per cent, and at the moment it is around 50 per cent, with the balance spread across the US, Europe, Japan and Pacific regions. A high quality equity fund offering well-managed global exposure.

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Growth funds - high risk

Aberdeen Global Champions
The fund, launched in October 2000, has Katherine Garrett-Cox as its named manager. Since its launch she has been appointed chief investment Officer, in January 2001, but she continues to retain control of this fund. Before her promotion, she headed the US team, and upon her promotion Rupert Della-Porta was moved up to become head of this team.

Della-Porta joined Aberdeen along with Garrett-Cox and the rest of the US team from Hill Samuel in September 2000. Although he is not the named manager, Della-Porta has significant input into this fund.

The fund aims to achieve capital growth through investment in global equities, with a high weighting towards the US, typically between 50% and 80%, and the balance in the UK, Europe and Asia. Essentially a thematic fund, Global Champions is built around globalisation, innovation and communication, which Aberdeen feels are destined to be the major engines driving global growth and, consequently, shaping the investment world.

Limiting its holdings to 50 to 70 primarily blue chip, large-cap stocks, the fund aims to identify those companies that are destined to be global leaders in their specific industries. The fund does have high growth potential, but at the same time it is a riskier fund which can be hit hard when stock markets are generally struggling.

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The opinions of the panel are their own and are not necessarily endorsed by FTyourmoney. The material here is for general information only and is not intended to be relied upon for individual investment decisions. Consult an independent financial adviser before making any such decisions.