Objective
Seeks capital appreciation through investment in European equities with market capitalization greater than 65 million euros. Focuses exclusively on developed European markets.
Strategy
Diversify portfolio using strict controls on the level of investment in any particular industry to maximise the impact of individual stock selection – assess relative earnings strength and valuation discrepancies within industry groups, based upon the premise that stock markets are reasonably, but not perfectly, efficient; investor sentiment is considered through analysis of earnings revisions, analyst recommendations and price behavior
| Fund Facts | |
|---|---|
| Asset Manager |
|
| Benchmark | MSCI Europe Index |
| Fund Inception Date | July 12, 2010 |
| Mimimum Investment | €50,000 |
| Expense Ratio | 1.55 |
| ISIN | IE00B3DD4Y80 |
Annual Average Total Returns
(%) as of 31/03/2019
| Trailing | 3 Months |
1 Yr |
3 Yrs |
5 Yrs |
10 Yrs |
Since Inception |
Inception Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European Equity Fund | 10.88 | -3.86 | 5.46 | 4.12 | * | 6.08 | July 12, 2010 |
| MSCI Europe Index | 13.00 | 6.13 | 7.74 | 5.88 | -- | 8.18 | July 12, 2010 |
Characteristics as of 31/03/2019
| Statistics | Fund | Index |
|---|---|---|
| Weighted Median Market Cap | € 14.5B | € 43.1B |
| Average Price/Book | 1.3x | 1.7x |
| Average Price/Earnings | 14.1x | 15.9x |
| Average Yield | 3.4% | 3.6% |
| Beta (ex ante) | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Active Share | 77.7 | N/A |
| 5 Yr Earnings Rate | 11.9% | 7.7% |
| Ten Largest Portfolio Holdings | 17.9% | 8.1% |
| # Securities in Portfolio | 134 | 439 |
| Turnover Rate (12 Mo) | 62.8 | N/A |
| Fund Size | € 158.7MM | |
| Sector | Fund | Index | Diff. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Communication Services | 5.0 | 4.8 | 0.2 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 8.7 | 9.2 | -0.5 |
| Consumer Staples | 14.3 | 14.7 | -0.4 |
| Energy | 8.8 | 8.3 | 0.5 |
| Financials | 18.4 | 18.2 | 0.1 |
| Healthcare | 12.4 | 13.1 | -0.7 |
| Industrials | 12.5 | 13.0 | -0.5 |
| Information Technology | 5.6 | 5.5 | 0.2 |
| Materials | 7.5 | 7.6 | -0.1 |
| Real Estate | 1.3 | 1.5 | -0.2 |
| Utilities | 4.4 | 4.2 | 0.2 |
| Cash | 1.1 | 0.0 | 1.1 |
| Country | Fund | Index |
|---|---|---|
| France | 31.8 | 17.9 |
| Germany | 9.1 | 13.6 |
| Italy | 8.3 | 3.8 |
| United Kingdom | 19.9 | 27.2 |
| United States | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Other Developed Europe | 28.9 | 37.5 |
| Top 10 Holdings | % Weight |
|---|---|
| Total SA | 2.5 |
| L'Oreal SA | 2.4 |
| Royal Dutch Shell Plc | 2.0 |
| Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV | 1.9 |
| Mediobanca S.p.A. | 1.8 |
| Danone SA | 1.5 |
| Henkel AG & Co. KGaA | 1.5 |
| Rio Tinto plc | 1.5 |
| Coca-Cola European Partners Plc | 1.5 |
| UCB S.A. | 1.5 |
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Q1 2019 Performance Review
3-MONTH REVIEW
- The Fund’s +11.3% return (before fees) in Q1 marks a sharp reversal from the -14% drop in the previous quarter but again trailed the benchmark index return of 13.0% by 170 bps.
- By design, all excess return is generated through stock selection; the largest negatives were in Consumer Staples and Industrials.
- Within Industrials, not investing in aerospace and defense was detrimental, while the Fund also suffered from profit warnings in some airlines and transportation stocks and Industrials.
- Information Technology stocks within the portfolio gained more than 20% on average, significantly better than the 16.1% return for corresponding stocks in the index. But because those stocks total less than 6% of the Fund, their contribution to excess return was muted (+20 bps).
12-MONTH REVIEW
- Because sector weights are very close to the index, almost all excess return will be attributable to stock selection within sectors.
- While the overall impact within Healthcare was about -50 bps, the specific performance deficit from not owning some large pharmaceutical companies totaled more than -100 bps.
- Three weak performing French bank holdings in the Financials sector contributed -90 bps to excess return.
- Two poor performing auto manufacturers detracted -70 bps over the trailing 12 months.
- The Fund’s overweights to mid and small cap stocks detracted nearly 180 bps in relative return over the past 12 months.
- The value tilt also hindered performance for the period. The Fund’s overweights in lower P/E stocks and underweights in the higher P/E stocks within the index contributed -170 bps in relative return over the trailing one year period.
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Fund Fact Sheet
PDF