Ashburton seeks alpha in "sausages over steak"

Richard Robinson, investment manager says he is taking advantage of consumers' preference to trade down during hard times, swapping steak for sausages, for example. Consequently, he has bought into Viscofan, the market leader in producing sausage skins to exploit the behavioural shift. In a similar move, it has invested in retail automotive part chain Halfords, as consumers choose to enhance or repair their aging vehicles instead of buying a new car. Robinson says the allocation rationale is not driven by the benchmark's sectoral weightings but by perceived investment opportunities...