Shai Patel, co-founder of the financial advisory firm Generation Financial Services, gives his verdict on the Investec GSF Global Franchise Fund.This fund domiciled in Luxembourg, aims to achieve long-term benefits by investing in a concentrated global portfolio of 20 to 45 high-quality companies selected for the quality and value of their franchises, and are attractively valued in the market.Companies in which the fund seeks to invest the assets tend to have dominant “intangibles” such as strong brands, patents, licensing and copyright, and are well positioned in stable or growing industries with high barriers to entry and low intensity capital.These features may offer investors good returns over the long term with less volatility than absolute average.Shai Patel says:The Franchise Investec Global Fund - the rebranding of the Investec Global Select Equity Fund - is run by Sam Houli, head of equities for South Africa, and although the fund is not restricted to any point of reference, you can invest in companies of any size, sector and location.The objective is to outperform the MSCI World Index. In general, the primary focus of this fund is to invest in companies of the highest quality, with strong global brands and franchises. Although the brochure confirms the “go anywhere” status of the fund, its objectives suggest that a natural tendency to be very large firms, with headquarters in the West, companies with high barriers to entry, such as Nestle, Procter & Gamble and Heineken. Because many of these companies are beginning to find more difficult to increase the incomes of their Western naturalized markets, which will be very dependent on emerging markets to increase sales figures in the coming years.However, this competition has been good opportunities in the past nine months, as the concentration of capital since March has been driven largely by lower quality stocks, resulting in a valuation gap with respect to stocks of higher perception of quality, and in the last couple of months the fund bias to these large, quality companies have seen the tide in his favor.Investors have begun to lower debt ratios, cash-generating businesses, and it is also possible that this trend could continue in the coming months as the news emanating from the problems in Dubai, and reports indicate a tough year for markets global equity and economies in 2010.Given the objectives and the subsequent large bias of the CAP, the fund should be pretty defensive (66 percent is spent on consumer goods and 16 percent in health care) would fit perfectly in a portfolio of low risk providing strong elements of diversification and where the intention is to invest in long-term growth.As suggested by past performance, while the background always follow the movements of the general stock market, needs to overcome in relation to a bear market, but lag by a strong rally.