Fundsmith Stewardship Fund

The Fundsmith Stewardship Fund is a UK OEIC that invests in equities on a global basis, run by the same portfolio manager as the better known Fundsmith Equity Fund, Terry Smith¹. It generally holds 20 to 30 stocks, so it is more concentrated than many other funds, and it is not managed with reference to any benchmark¹.

What separates it from the Equity Fund is a list of industries it will not invest in. The fund avoids businesses with substantial interests in aerospace and defence, brewers, distillers and vintners, casinos and gaming, gas and electric utilities, metals and mining, oil, gas and consumable fuels, pornography, and tobacco¹. It does not carry a UK sustainable investment label, because Fundsmith states it does not have a sustainability goal as defined by the regulator's rules¹.

There is no initial charge and no performance fee, and the fund's own factsheet carries the current ongoing charges, transaction costs and yields¹. Fundsmith states the shares should be viewed as long-term investments of at least five years¹. The fund sits in the Investment Association's Global sector¹.

What the Fundsmith Stewardship Fund invests in

The fund's stated objective is to invest in equities on a global basis¹. In practice that means a portfolio listed mostly outside the UK. By country of listing, 78.6% of the fund was in the US, 8.0% in the UK, 6.6% in France, 5.9% in Spain and 0.9% in cash, as at 28 August 2026¹.

By sector, the largest weights at the same date were health care at 18.7%, consumer discretionary at 17.5%, information technology at 17.2%, industrials at 16.0%, financials at 10.8%, consumer staples at 10.0% and communication services at 8.9%¹.

The ten largest holdings as at August 2026 were Sage, Amadeus, Waters, Mastercard, Visa, Stryker, Veeva Systems, Netflix, Church & Dwight and Uber¹. The median market capitalisation of the companies held was £87.2bn and the average company was founded in 1959, which tells you the fund leans towards large, established businesses rather than young ones¹. The fund's portfolio complies with the UCITS requirements on spread of investment¹.

The fund is a UK OEIC, the same structure as most UK unit trusts, with Deloitte LLP as auditor¹. If you want the background on how that structure differs from an investment trust, see OEICs, unit trusts, SICAVs and other fund structures and Investment trusts explained.

Industries the fund excludes, and why it has no sustainability label

The exclusion list is the fund's defining feature, and it is worth reading closely. The fund will not invest in businesses with substantial interests in aerospace and defence, brewers, distillers and vintners, casinos and gaming, gas and electric utilities, metals and mining, oil, gas and consumable fuels, pornography, or tobacco¹. That is a screen applied to sectors, not a promise about every company's conduct, and it is narrower than the screens some other funds run.

The Stewardship Fund does not claim to be any of those things. Fundsmith states plainly that the product does not have a UK sustainable investment label because it does not have a sustainability goal as defined by the regulator's rules¹. The same wording appears on the Fundsmith Equity Fund and the Smithson Equity Fund factsheets⁷. If a sustainability label matters to you, our page on FCA sustainability labels for investments explains what each label requires, and What is greenwashing in investments? covers the warning signs.

How the charges and costs work

There is no initial charge on the Stewardship Fund, and no performance fee¹. The Equity Fund is run on the same basis, with no up front fees and no fees for performance⁷. That means the cost of holding the fund comes through the ongoing charges figure and transaction costs rather than through a charge for buying in or a share of gains.

A fund that holds its companies for years rather than months generates fewer dealing costs, though it also means the manager is not reacting quickly to short-term market moves.

Two other layers sit on top and are not set by Fundsmith. If you hold the fund through a platform, the platform charges its own fee, and if you take advice, the adviser charges theirs. Our pages on fund charges and the ongoing charges figure and investment platform fees and charges set out how those are calculated. Fundsmith's own factsheet carries the current ongoing charges figure, transaction costs and yields, and that is the place to check today's numbers¹.

Share classes and how dividends are paid

The fund has two share classes with different inception dates: the I Class, which launched on 1 November 2017, and the T Class, which launched on 2 March 2020¹. Which one is available to you depends on how you buy the fund, and the factsheet sets out the figures for each.

Income shares go ex-dividend on 30 June and 31 December, and dividends are paid out on or about 28 February and 31 August¹. The fund reports interim and final dividends per share for each class. For the interim period from 1 January 2026 to 30 June 2026, the figures were 0.2847p for the Direct accumulation class and 0.4024p for the Institutional accumulation class¹. The documents give a second figure for each of those T Class payments, 0.2822p and 0.2960p respectively, and the two sets of figures disagree¹.

The distinction between income and accumulation matters more than the individual numbers. Distribution classes pass on the income received by the fund to investors who hold shares, while accumulation classes roll the income into the value of the holding instead⁸. Triodos puts the same point in its own words:

The fund's yield depends on the share class, with I Class shares as the reference, as at 28 August 2026¹. Our page on how dividends work covers the mechanics, and fund share classes and unit classes explained covers why the same fund can appear under several names.

The risks of a concentrated global share fund

A portfolio of 20 to 30 stocks is concentrated by design, and the fund's own factsheet says so: it generally invests in 20 to 30 stocks and so it is more concentrated than many other funds¹. The trade-off is set out well by Artemis on a comparable approach: the fund invests in a relatively small number of companies, which means the manager focuses on their best ideas, but it increases risk as each one has a larger impact on performance¹⁰. Hargreaves Lansdown makes the same point about a concentrated fund in the Flexible Investment sector: while it contains a diverse range of investments, it is concentrated, and each investment can contribute more to returns¹¹.

Concentration is not the only risk. Equity funds generally carry volatility risk: share prices can fluctuate, and funds concentrated in particular sectors, countries or company types may experience greater volatility¹². The Stewardship Fund's country split shows how much of it depends on one market, with 78.6% listed in the US as at 28 August 2026¹. Currency is a related exposure, because the fund does not hedge, and Triodos describes the same position for its global equities fund as being exposed to concentration risk and currency risk, with no protection from future market performance so you could lose some or all of your investment¹³.

The fund's own record shows what that looks like month to month. Independent guidance is consistent on the timescale needed to ride that out:

• The Association of Investment Companies and Which? both point to five to ten years or longer, and to five, ten or even 20 years for very high risk investments¹⁴
• AJ Bell puts the minimum at five to seven years for stock market investments generally¹⁸
• HSBC says at least five years for an index fund¹⁹
• Bank of Scotland and Lloyds both suggest around five years for their ready-made investments²⁰
• Fundsmith's own guidance for this fund is at least five years¹

What happens to a Fundsmith holding when an investor dies

Fundsmith sets out a clear process. Once it has verified the personal representatives, the investment can stay with the firm, be transferred, or be sold and the proceeds paid to the personal representative²². For sole accounts it stops correspondence to the deceased, cancels any active Direct Debits or regular withdrawal facilities, and sends a valuation as at the date of death along with details of any distributions and cash balances held²². Where the account was held in joint names, it removes the late client and the account continues in the name of the remaining holder²².

On paperwork, Fundsmith needs the original Death Certificate, and if one has not yet been issued it can accept an interim Death Certificate or Coroner's Certificate to register the death²². Original certificates are returned promptly by Royal Mail Special Delivery²². If the holding is below £20,000 you may instead complete a Small Estate Form, witnessed by a solicitor²². For estates in Scotland, Fundsmith must be listed on the Certificate of Confirmation²². Foreign Grants are not recognised in the UK, though if the document was issued in a former or current Commonwealth country it may be possible to have it resealed in the UK, which is usually quicker than applying for a new Grant²². Fundsmith verifies each representative's identity before processing any instruction to distribute the funds²².

On tax, Fundsmith states it can pay some or all of the funds directly to HMRC to cover an Inheritance Tax bill, provided it holds the original Death Certificate, and that once it receives a completed IHT423 form it can make the payment directly to HMRC²². HMRC's own guidance confirms the general position: cash funds held within a share or investment portfolio can sometimes be released directly to HMRC to pay the tax, and some providers of insurance and investment bonds are prepared to do the same²³. The account to pay is HMRC Inheritance Tax²⁴. Where tax is paid by instalments, you can pay off the full tax and interest at any time by writing to HMRC asking for a final assessment²⁵. HMRC will contact you if you have to pay any Inheritance Tax yourself²⁶.

A surviving spouse or civil partner gets an extra ISA allowance where the deceased held an ISA²². Our page on money through life's big changes covers the wider administration process.

How your investment is held and protected

The fund is a UK OEIC, which means the assets are held separately from Fundsmith's own money¹. Fundsmith LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority⁷. The fund's portfolio complies with the UCITS requirements on spread of investment¹.

Fundsmith's bereavement guidance is the clearest statement of how a holding is treated on death, and it is worth reading alongside the general rules on inherited investments²². If you hold the fund through a platform, the platform's own custody arrangements apply to your account, and our page on what happens if an investment platform fails explains how client assets are separated. Whether the Financial Services Compensation Scheme applies to a fund holding, and where its limits stop, is covered in using the FSCS Investment Protection Checker.

Opening a holding, and where to get help

The fund can be held in an ISA, a Junior ISA, a SIPP or a general investment account, depending on what the platform offers²⁷. The Stewardship Fund sits in the Investment Association's Global sector¹. Our pages on ISA, pension or general account and how investment platforms work set out the differences.

Dealing in the fund takes place daily at noon¹. If you are switching from another fund, the timing of the sale and the purchase is covered in how funds are priced and when your deal goes through. Before you commit, the fund's key information document and factsheet set out the objective, the risk profile and the current charges, and our page on fund documents explains what each one contains.

If something goes wrong with how a fund was sold to you, or with the service you received, our pages on mis-sold investments and bad investment advice and investment scams explain the routes open to you. Free, impartial help is available from MoneyHelper, and the Financial Ombudsman Service can look at complaints about firms it covers.