Stonehage Fleming's Smit: Quality stock selection key in tech sector

Manager upbeat on cloud-based computing services

Online payment firms, cloud-based services and e-commerce brands will only continue to thrive over the "very, very long term", according to Stonehage Fleming's Gerrit Smit, who said the need for quality stock selection has "never been so profound as it is now".

Smit, who runs the £1.3bn Stonehage Fleming Global Best Ideas Equity fund, has a 25.7% weighting in technology, and 16% and 18% in consumer staples and discretionary holdings respectively, which he said has allowed the portfolio to deliver top-quartile returns over the last year. Blue Whale's Stephen Yiu: Embracing volatility and shunning top tech stocks His long-term conviction in these sectors has also contributed to top-quartile gains over the past three and five years as well as since launch in 2013, according to the manager. "The modern world, aside from having become totally ...