Citywire ISA Guide: Some ideas for the adventurous

Fortune, they say, favours the brave and for the very brave the ISA season presents an opportunity to buck the trend and invest in some potential high-risk but high-return funds.

Many will be looking at the current stockmarket conditions and concluding that any stockmarket investment carries significant risk. They may well be right but Citywire believes that investors who are willing to back top individual fund managers for the long-term will ultimately be rewarded. Any adventurous suggestion should always be used as part of a balanced portfolio.

If you would like to explore Citywire's database of 1,000 fund managers for yourself you could use our fund selection tool. If you are still deciding whether or not you need an ISA why not read our guide. We also offer a guide to how to use Citywire's data top pick investments.

Our adventurous ISA recommendations here are not about making a quick buck, indeed there is every chance that anyone making an investment in one of these funds with short-term goals will in fact lose money.

However, all of these managers have strong performance records which demonstrate that they have what it takes to beat their own benchmarks. They also have all run funds which invest in themes or regions which look set to experience significant growth over the long-term (the word long-term here is taken to mean five to ten years). 

A-rated Ian Henderson, manager of the JPM Natural Resources fund

It dosen't take a world class economic mind to realise that the world is using its resources at an ever-increasing rate. The development of regions like China and India means that demand for oil is soaring. But it also means that demand for other raw materials is increasing. As nations become richer they use for example much more gold.

There will certainly be many people who become very rich harnessing this growth over the next decade. The question for private investors is how best to tap into it?

Henderson has proven himself as one of the manages most consistently able to harness this growth. He is also part of an elite club of managers who have retained a Citywire rating 100% of the time, demonstrating his capacity to deliver excellent returns without taking undue risk.

Because Henderson has to invest in a lot of companies which could be considered as high risk - like those involved in mining - he spends a lot of time visiting individual company management and says he trusts his judgement over what the market is saying.