About this glossary
Infundly uses Fund Discovery filters to help users navigate funds by role, behaviour and research relevance. The filters are not recommendations. They are descriptors that help frame how a fund may be used, challenged or compared within a professional research process.
A fund may appear under more than one filter where the evidence supports more than one role. For example, a fund may be both Income Focus and Defensive Focus. Infundly aims to avoid over-tagging, so filters are applied where they add useful context rather than marketing appeal.
How to use this glossary
Understand Portfolio Role
Use the filters to identify whether a fund is being framed as a core holding, defensive allocation, income engine, diversifier, growth strategy or more specialist opportunity.
Compare funds more clearly
The filters help compare funds by behaviour and use case, rather than relying only on sector, asset class, yield, performance or brand name.
Support due diligence
Each filter is intended to support further research, challenge and portfolio discussion. It should not replace a full assessment of process, risk, governance and evidence.
Fund Portfolio Role Filters
These filters help users search for funds by portfolio role, market environment and investment behaviour. They are designed to make fund discovery more practical for professional research and portfolio construction.
Portfolio Anchors
Foundational funds for long-term core allocations.
Portfolio Anchors, funds suited to forming part of the foundation of a portfolio. They typically offer broad usefulness, dependable characteristics and the potential to hold a strategic allocation over the long term.
Core Compounders
High-quality strategies built to compound steadily over time.
Core Compounders, funds focused on building value over the long term through durable growth drivers, disciplined management, recurring cashflows or businesses capable of reinvesting capital productively.
Capital Preservers
Funds focused on protecting capital and limiting drawdowns.
Capital Preservers, funds designed with a strong emphasis on limiting permanent capital loss. They may seek resilience in weaker markets, smoother return patterns or greater protection during periods of stress.
Inflation Resilience
Strategies better placed to withstand inflationary conditions.
Inflation Resilience funds have characteristics that may help portfolios withstand periods of higher inflation, such as pricing power, real asset exposure, infrastructure, commodities, inflation-linked bonds or businesses linked to nominal growth.
Income Focus
Funds prioritising regular portfolio income and cashflow.
Income Focus funds aim to generate a meaningful level of income through dividends, coupons, distributions or other cashflow-oriented sources. The quality and sustainability of income matter as much as the headline yield.
Defensive Focus
More resilient strategies for uncertain or weaker markets.
Defensive Focus funds are tilted toward areas of the market that may offer greater resilience in more difficult conditions. They may emphasise stability, lower cyclicality, stronger balance sheets or more predictable cashflows.
Real Return Seekers
Funds aiming to grow purchasing power above inflation.
Real Return Seekers target returns above inflation over time. The focus is on preserving and growing purchasing power, rather than simply delivering positive nominal returns.
Diversifying Allocators
Differentiated exposures that broaden portfolio return drivers.
Diversifying Allocators may add different sources of return to a portfolio, reducing reliance on a narrow set of mainstream equity or bond outcomes. The research test is whether the diversification is genuine, understandable and useful.
Downside-Aware Growers
Growth-oriented funds with stronger risk discipline.
Downside-Aware Growers seek capital growth while maintaining a clear awareness of drawdown risk. They may still invest in growth assets, but with greater selectivity, valuation discipline or risk-management controls.
All-Weather Holdings
Flexible holdings designed for a range of market environments.
All-Weather Holdings, funds built to remain relevant across a variety of market and economic conditions. They may use diversification, flexible asset allocation, balanced exposures or disciplined risk controls.
Late-Cycle Defensives
Strategies better suited to more mature market phases.
Late-Cycle Defensives may be relevant when the market cycle is mature and risks are building. These strategies may emphasise cashflow resilience, balance-sheet strength, quality, income durability or lower cyclicality.
Rate-Sensitive Opportunities
Funds positioned for changing interest-rate dynamics.
Rate-Sensitive Opportunities, funds whose investment case may be influenced by changes in interest-rate expectations, including duration exposure, bond market sensitivity, valuation re-rating potential or cyclical exposure to monetary policy shifts.
Disinflation Beneficiaries
Strategies that may benefit as inflation moderates.
Disinflation Beneficiaries, funds with exposures that may perform well when inflation pressures ease. This may include assets that benefit from stabilising rates, falling input costs, improving margins or valuation recovery.
Volatility Navigators
Funds built to manage through more turbulent markets.
Volatility Navigators, funds designed to manage through unsettled markets using diversification, flexibility, active risk control, defensive positioning, hedging or disciplined valuation and liquidity management.
Discover Filter Tags
Discover Tags add further editorial context to Fund Discovery. They help highlight funds with particular research characteristics, such as specialist expertise, boutique positioning, high-conviction judgement or under-recognised appeal.
Defensive Anchors
Funds that may provide portfolio ballast, liquidity or lower-volatility exposure.
Defensive Anchors may include money market funds, government bond funds, short-duration strategies, core bond funds or funds with an explicitly defensive mandate. The tag is used where the fund’s role is primarily defensive rather than growth-led.
Income Engines
Funds where income generation is central to the investment case.
Income Engines may include equity income funds, dividend-focused strategies, income-oriented bond funds, high-yield funds, real estate income funds or infrastructure income strategies. Infundly considers the quality, sustainability and risk of the income stream, not only the headline yield.
Real Asset & Inflation Hedges
Funds with exposure to real assets or inflation-sensitive markets.
These funds may include exposure to gold, silver, precious metals, strategic metals, natural resources, infrastructure, real estate or energy infrastructure. They are not guaranteed to hedge inflation, but they may offer exposure to assets often considered in that context.
Specialist Edge
Funds supported by genuine specialist manager or team expertise.
Specialist Edge is used where the fund’s investment case is supported by technical knowledge, long-standing sector experience, a dedicated specialist team or a fund house with a clear long-term specialism. It is not applied simply because a fund invests in a specialist sector.
Compounder
Funds centred on long-term value creation.
Compounder funds may focus on durable businesses, recurring cashflows, quality growth, disciplined capital allocation, reinvestment, dividend growth or other characteristics that may support the compounding of capital or income over time.
Boutique
Funds run by smaller, specialist, independent or less dominant investment groups.
Boutique highlights managers that may sit outside the most obvious large-platform or household-name choices. The research appeal may come from a focused investment culture, specialist capability or less mainstream market positioning.
High Conviction
Funds where outcomes depend meaningfully on active judgement.
High Conviction funds may have concentrated portfolios, high active share, contrarian positioning, specialist mandates or a manager-led process that looks meaningfully different from broad market exposure. The tag does not mean higher quality by itself.
Overlooked Gems
Funds that may deserve more professional attention than they typically receive.
Overlooked Gems may include less widely known funds, under-researched strategies, niche mandates, unfashionable areas of the market or funds whose strengths may not be obvious from standard fund-screening tools. This is an editorial tag, used selectively.
How Infundly applies filters and tags
Infundly applies Fund Discovery filters using a research-led standard. The aim is to make fund discovery more useful, not to attach as many attractive labels as possible.
A fund may receive more than one tag, but Infundly aims to avoid over-labelling. A small number of clearly justified tags is more useful than a long list of generic descriptors.
one primary tag that best describes the fund’s main role or research appeal;
up to three secondary tags where there is clear supporting evidence;
a clear link between the tag and the fund’s process, behaviour or portfolio role;
evidence that the tag adds useful context for professional research.
Example: how a fund might be tagged
A global equity income fund might appear under Income Focus if income generation is central to the investment case. It may also receive a Defensive Focus tag if the process emphasises resilient cashflows, balance-sheet strength and lower cyclicality.
However, it would not automatically receive Capital Preserver, High Conviction or Overlooked Gem unless there is clear evidence to support those labels.
This approach keeps the filter system useful, disciplined and grounded in research rather than marketing language.
Explore funds by role, behaviour and research relevance
Use Infundly Fund Discovery to search for funds through a portfolio-construction lens, including core holdings, defensive allocations, income strategies, diversifiers, compounders and specialist opportunities.
The important bit
Infundly provides independent investment research and commentary for professional users. Fund Discovery filters and Discover Tags are provided for information and research purposes only. They do not constitute investment advice, a personal recommendation, an invitation to invest or a financial promotion. Users should undertake their own due diligence and consider the suitability of any fund in the context of their own investment process, client base and governance requirements.
Frequently asked questions
Are Infundly’s Fund Discovery filters recommendations?
No. The filters are research descriptors. They help users understand how a fund may be categorised by role, behaviour or investment characteristics. They do not represent investment advice, personal recommendations or suitability assessments.
Can a fund appear under more than one filter?
Yes. Some funds have more than one relevant characteristic. For example, a fund may be both income-focused and defensive, or both a compounder and a high-conviction strategy. Infundly aims to avoid over-tagging and only applies filters where there is a clear research basis.
Why does Infundly use portfolio-role filters?
Traditional fund sectors can be useful, but they do not always explain what a fund is meant to do in a portfolio. Infundly’s filters are designed to help users think about fund role, behaviour, risk and use case.
Are these filters based on past performance?
Not primarily. Performance may be part of the evidence base, but the filters are intended to reflect portfolio role, process, risk characteristics, manager behaviour and research relevance.
What is the difference between Fund Discovery Filters and Discover Tags?
Fund Discovery Filters help users navigate funds by portfolio role or market use case. Discover Tags add further editorial context, such as whether a fund has specialist expertise, boutique characteristics, high-conviction positioning or an overlooked profile.