To claim to be a contrarian is almost a badge of courage among fund managers nowadays. In the teeth of falling share prices, it involves picking off unloved stocks and having the guts to follow it through in the teeth of often vociferous opposition.

Anthony Bolton, the recently retired manager of Fidelity Special Situations, drew a torrent of abuse last week after he said in a television interview that he thought it was time to sell metals and oil — the current favourite among many investors — and buy shares in financial companies such as banks and insurers. These have been the main sufferers from the credit crisis and so have been neglected.

He said: “After five years of strong commodity markets, a contrarian such as myself would start to get more worried. I would switch out of commodities today and move into financial stocks.”

The oil price duly obliged, closing the week at $126.95 — $8 a barrel off the all-time high of $135.09 the previous week.

Financial advisers love to tempt clients with stockpickers that have a colourful, contrarian flavour, because if they get it right they buy when a share has been allowed to sink to a rock-bottom price.

Darius McDermott of Chelsea Financial Services, said: “Contrarian investing with the right fund manager can be hugely successful. Historically, some of the most well-known and successful UK managers, such as Bolton and Neil Woodford at Invesco Perpetual, have had a contrarian style at the core of their investment process. These contrarian calls, many of which have been made on stocks unloved by the vast majority of fund managers, have turned out to be key drivers in delivering tremendous returns to their investors.”

Others who have recently gone out on a limb are James Henderson of Henderson Global Investors, Carl Stick at Rathbones, Alan Borrows at Midas Capital, Derek Stuart at Artemis and Bolton’s protégé, Sanjeev Shah.

Here are their latest tips for shares to buy.

British Airways

This is perhaps one of the bravest selections, given the consumer spending squeeze and the way the record oil price is pushing up fares. However, James Henderson seems to have it all worked out.

“Over time, BA rarely trades below its net asset value, but at the moment it is trading well below this,” he said. “Secondly, if the oil price comes back, the stock should do well, and if oil doesn’t come back, there will be weaker operators that suffer more. Thirdly, the recent dividend shows management confidence. Finally, the company has made huge cost savings over the past few years, allowing it to make very good profit margins last year.”

Alliance & Leicester

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