September, 2023
• Global equity markets weakened further during September, as the global economy continues to slow under the pressure of higher interest rates
• Longer-term bond yields increased upon fears that persistent inflationary pressures will keep interest rates elevated for an extended period, which particularly impacted growth stocks
• The Portfolio returned -5.9% in September, while the benchmark returned -3.8% Global share markets again moved lower in September, as persistent inflation increased the expectation that interest rates would remain elevated for an extended period. This helped push up longer-term government bond yields, which weighed on share prices.
US inflation remains persistent, increasing in August to 3.7% year-on-year from 3.2% in July. The US dollar increased by 2.5% against a basket of key trading partners’ currencies in September. This reflected growing expectations that the US interest rate will be kept at a premium over those of other major currencies. Economic growth data remains mixed, with the picture in North America and Europe being one of gradual improvement, yet still consistent with contraction.
China’s manufacturing activity continues to expand, although the broader ‘re‑opening’ following the lifting of its zero-COVID strategy has now largely stalled. Consumer spending remains sluggish, as the highly leveraged property market continues to slow the economy. Travel and entertainment continue to support economic activity in the region.
The Fund retains its focus on dynamic growth stocks whose positive revisions to earnings per share (EPS) drive outperformance as global economic growth moderates. The Fund continues to overweight information technology, health care, and consumer discretionary, while the largest underweight sectors are financials, energy, and materials.
The surge in long-term global bond yields last month drove an equity market switch out of growth stocks – which are more sensitive to changes in yields – and into value stocks. This led global growth stocks to underperform value by around 2.7% during September. The Fund underperformed its benchmark, but by a smaller margin of 2.1%. Strong stock performance in industrials contributed to relative returns. Weak stock performance in health care, financials and information technology were the main detractors.
US-based luggage manufacturer and retailer Samsonite continued to perform well after reporting second quarter earnings which were ahead of market expectations. The company continues to benefit from the strong growth in global travel.
Novartis is a Swiss-based diversified global pharmaceutical company with a focus on oncology, immunology, cardiovascular, and neurology. It performed well over the last month in anticipation of the spin-out of its biosimilar business Sandoz, which will effectively leave Novartis as a pure-play pharmaceutical stock. Furthermore, the Fund’s tracking of pharmacy script data for its key drug Kisquali – which remains ahead of consensus expectations – supports the positive outlook.
US-based Costco operates a global chain of members-only warehouse-style retail stores. It outperformed after reporting second quarter earnings and provided forward guidance, both of which were slightly ahead of market expectations. In addition, the company announced same store sales for September which were ahead of investor forecasts, providing further evidence of its ability to grow earnings over the medium-term.
US-based multinational technology company Nvidia underperformed in September after reporting very strong results in August. However, real-time data relating to Nvidia’s planned wafer capacity at its key manufacturing partner TSMC continues to show the potential for earnings to exceed market expectations into 2024.
French luxury goods company Hermès International underperformed upon concerns of a slowdown in the broader luxury goods sector. Peers including LVMH and Richement highlighted weakness in Europe and China. e.l.f. Beauty also underperformed following several months of outperformance. Tracked sales channel data has decelerated, but is still slightly ahead of expectations this quarter.
The position in ASML was reduced after the company gave more cautious earnings guidance for its Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography tools. ASML’s monopoly position in EUV tools leaves it well positioned to deliver longterm growth as a technology enabler of next-generation semiconductor manufacturing.
The holding in Hermès International was reduced as the luxury sector continues to weaken. Nonetheless, its more affluent customer base is expected to provide it with greater insulation from the broader slowdown in consumer spending.
The Fund established a position in Cintas, one of North America’s largest providers of corporate uniforms and related business services. The company is viewed as an attractive structural growth story as more US businesses outsource uniform laundry and it expands into new product areas (e.g. healthcare, education, first aid kits).
The Fund also established a position in FEMSA, a Mexican multinational beverage and retail company. It comprises Oxxo, the leading convenience store in Latin America with over 20,000 stores, Coca-Cola FEMSA, the world’s largest Coke bottler by volume, and FEMSA Health, the second largest pharmacy chain in Latin America. It has a strong balance sheet and opportunities to expand into the US.
The Fund reduced its exposure to US-based multinational chocolate manufacturer Hershey. This reflected longerterm concerns over the impact of obesity drugs on future sales volumes and a lack of progress in addressing several ESG concerns, which the Fund had raised with the company last year.
The holding in Germany’s national airline Lufthansa was also reduced after several major airlines began to report slowing travel demand over the northern hemisphere summer months.
The Fund exited its position in US-based specialty chemicals manufacturing company Albemarle, which focusses on providing lithium for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, as lithium spot prices remain weak.
Prior to establishing the position in the company, the investment team held a very positive engagement with the senior management of FEMSA to discuss ESG issues. This included governance following the recent death of the company’s CEO which left the succession plan uncertain. The impact of recent water scarcity on its bottling business was also discussed and the company emphasised that it undertakes ongoing engagement with municipalities to further reduce its water use.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/monthly-30-09-2023-penvgt.pdfAugust, 2023
The Fund established a position in the Italian luxury sports car manufacturer Ferrari, which has an extremely strong global brand and a waiting list for vehicles in excess of two years. The Fund’s modelling shows significant scope to increase earnings as personalisation becomes a larger part of the business. Currently, personalisation represents just 15% of car and spare parts sales but generates 50-90% gross profit margins.
The Fund also established a position in US-based Cadence Design Systems, which is a leader in electronic design automation. Its software provides the basic building blocks for designing a semiconductor device, such as placing and routing transistors on a chip. There is limited competition in the electronic design automation industry and the company has historically shown resilient growth through business cycles.
The Fund exited its position in US-based multinational cosmetics company Estee Lauder. The company had reported disappointing second quarter earnings and issued forward guidance which was way below investor expectations. While the brand does not appear to be impaired, the company must address several near-term issues that will likely impact its margins for longer than initially expected.
During August, US-based logistics real estate investment trust Prologis’ ESG rating was downgraded to A from AA by MSCI. Human capital management initiatives were found to just be in line with the industry peer group, rather than ahead of it. The company appears to lag industry peers in offering support for degree programs, and its non-salary benefits appear limited to some employees. The Fund plans to engage with the company to better understand what programs it offers to employees and if it has any plans to increase benefits.
The Fund held ESG engagement conversations with the management teams of Microsoft and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (TSMC) during August. In conversation with TSMC, it became apparent that the company offers a wide range of learning resources to all employees (both full and part-time employees and also contractors). The learning content and approaches cater to the needs of individuals and organisations. This is not reflected in MSCI’s ESG reporting, so the Fund urged the management team to engage with MSCI to potentially improve its rating.
File:June, 2023
• Global share prices strengthened in June as slowing inflation allowed the US Federal Reserve to keep interest rates unchanged, raising hopes that the peak in rates is now close
• The Fund returned 2.5% in June, while the benchmark returned 2.9%. Over the Financial Year, the Fund returned 23.5%, outperforming the benchmark by 3.1%
• Strong stock performance in the information technology and financial sectors supported relative returns in June
Global equity markets made strong gains in June as inflation continued to fall in the US, leading the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates unchanged at 5.00% – 5.25%. The US consumer price index (CPI) fell to 4.0% year-on-year in May, from 4.9% in April.
The US dollar declined by 1.4% against its major trading currencies in June, upon more positive investor sentiment. A stronger Australian dollar reduced fund returns in AUD terms.
Global economic growth continued to moderate, as purchasing managers’ data weakened slightly in the Eurozone while the contraction in US manufacturing new orders eased.
China’s manufacturing activity continued to expand but the broader ‘re-opening’ following the end of the zeroCOVID policy has now slowed. Consumer spending remained sluggish around the important June public holiday, while the property market remains weak. Travel and entertainment sectors continue to support economic activity in the Asia region.
The Fund retains its focus on dynamic growth stocks as positive revisions to earnings per share (EPS) drive outperformance as the economy moves into a period of weaker overall earnings growth. The Fund continues to overweight information technology, consumer discretionary, and health care while underweighting financials, energy, and materials.
Strong stock performance in information technology and financials and an overweight position in consumer discretionary contributed to relative returns. Weak stock performance in consumer discretionary and industrials and an overweight position in health care were the main detractors.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/202678622.pdfApril, 2023
• Global equity markets strengthened in April upon signs of inflation moderating, positive economic data and company earnings which exceeded forecasts
• Australian dollar weakness supported share market returns in AUD terms
• The portfolio returned 0.5% in April, while the benchmark returned 2.8%
Global equity markets strengthened during April upon signs that inflation is moderating, economic data remains fairly stable and that company earnings are exceeding expectations. The MSCI All Country World Index AUD gained 2.8%. The Fund underperformed the benchmark by 2.3% in Australian dollar terms, as value stocks outperformed growth for the first time this year. This was driven by financials rebounding following the underperformance in March.
US inflation continued to trend down, but the US Federal Reserve again raised interest rates by 0.25%, to 4.75% – 5.00%. The US consumer price index (CPI) fell to 5.0% year-on-year in March from 6.0% in February. Economic growth trends remained consistent with those seen in March as purchasing managers’ data improved across the major economies.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/200499045.pdfOctober, 2022
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/193086071.pdfAugust, 2022
During August, the Fund underperformed the benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index by 1.7%.
Growth-inclined stocks weakened upon expectations that interest rates would need to be higher for longer to bring inflation back under control. Global value stocks outperformed growth by 1.9% in August.
The underperformance of growth companies occurred despite the continued moderation in inflation. The US Core Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Price Index rose 4.6% year-on-year in August, down from the 4.8% July increase.
The more negative market sentiment followed a speech by Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell at the Federal Reserve’s annual Jackson Hole conference. He detailed the Fed’s plan to slow inflation through higher interest rates, which reflected a willingness to tolerate higher unemployment and slower economic growth.
This shifted market expectations towards a higher peak in interest rates next year and a longer pause before eventual monetary easing. This brought a 0.60% increase in the yield of the interest rate-sensitive two-year US Treasury bond, wider credit spreads and lower equity market valuations.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/190936605.pdfJuly, 2022
The Pengana Axiom International Ethical Fund (“Fund”) generated a return of 9.6% in July, outperforming the benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index (“Index”) by 4.2%.
During July the Fund outperformed the benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index, by 4.2%. Growth-orientated shares outperformed value stocks, despite expectations that higher interest rates would be needed to address persistently high inflation, and this would negatively impact economic activity levels. While the strong US dollar continues to pressure European and emerging market economies, commodity prices (in USD) continued to fall. The Brent oil price fell 5% month-on-month, while European natural gas prices remained elevated on continued regional geopolitical tensions.
Global economic growth data continued to deteriorate. Data relating to European economic activity deteriorated sharply with June Germany factory orders 9.0% lower year-on-year, compared to a 3.2% fall in May. This weakness was reflected in the US 2-to-10-year yield curve inversion growing to 35 basis points by the end of July. Inverted yield curves sometimes provide early warning of a future recession.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/189909841.pdfJune, 2022
During June 2022, the Pengana Axiom International Ethical Fund (“Fund”) fell by -4.4%, slightly overperforming the benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index (AUD) (“Index”).
In June, growth factors began to reassert themselves as increasingly restrictive global monetary policy actions started to take their toll on economic activity levels. Overall, the MSCI All Country World Growth Index marginally outperformed the Value Index by 46 basis points in June.
Inflationary pressures showed some signs of moderation as commodity prices retreated from their highs. Brent oil was lower by -6.5% month over month, although regional natural gas prices remain elevated on continued European geopolitical issues.
Further, global economic growth data continued to deteriorate. Most notably, the June US ISM Manufacturing New Orders declined to 49.2, a cycle low and representative of a contraction in activity (reading <50). European economic activity remains mixed with consumer and industrial activity varying widely by country. The strong US dollar continues to pressure European and emerging market economies. China’s Zero COVID policy began to ease in June resulting in an improvement in economic activity. Key economic indicators, the Manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) returned to expansionary territory at 50.2 versus 49.6, and Services PMI improved more rapidly to 54.7 in June versus 47.8 in May. Despite these improvements, overall Chinese economic activity remains mixed with continuous headlines around regional COVID case count increases and restrictions.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/189094365.pdfMay, 2022
During May 2022, the Pengana Axiom International Ethical Fund (“Fund”) fell by -2.8%, underperforming the benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index (AUD) (“Index”), by 2%. Portfolio Manager Bradley Amoils recently held a Portfolio and Investment Update webinar which can be found below:
The headwind for growth-orientated strategies continued through May. The market sold off sharply in the early part of the month as concerns around increasingly restrictive monetary policy and the COVID-related economic slowdowns in China weighed on sentiment. However, the market ended the month reasonably flat as some evidence of “peaking” inflation (i.e. improved personal consumption expenditure in the US) started to emerge. There is less evidence in Europe, where German CPI grew +7.9% year over year, compared to +7.2%, driven by higher commodity prices and a strong US dollar, and German retail sales only rose +2.5% year over year, which was significantly less than the consensus expectations of +4.4%.
Against this backdrop, Axiom continues to focus on dynamic growth stocks. We believe positive earnings revisions will be the most likely factor to drive outperformance at this point in the economic cycle. The Fund continues to be overweight in information technology and consumer discretionary, and has moved into a slight overweight position in healthcare. We remain underweight in financials, energy, and materials and have reduced our position from overweight to underweight in industrials.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/188011705.pdfApril, 2022
• Dual headwinds of accelerating inflation and slowing economic growth led the Pengana Axiom International Ethical Fund (“Fund”) underperformed the benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index (“Index”), in AUD terms, by 5.3%.
• During the month the fund trimmed exposure to Semiconductors which are exposed to the deteriorating economic environment, and exited our holding in Align Technology. • The largest positional increase was to Novo Nordisk, supported by strong demand for their drug Ozempic.
The Fund’s improved relative performance during the second half of March took a step back in April. This was largely due to the headwinds of accelerating inflation and slowing economic growth, and further exacerbated by China’s Zero COVID policy which resulted in the lockdown of significant portions of the domestic population which slowed growth and intensified supply chain disruptions. Recession watchers have also been very concerned by the US yield curve with the closely watched 2- to 10-year curve oscillating between 0 and 40bps during April. The Axiom process continues to focus on investing in dynamically growing businesses and for the most part, these businesses have continued to perform strongly, notwithstanding the current environment. We ultimately expect upward earnings revisions of our portfolio companies to be the factor that will drive outperformance at this point in the economic cycle. The Fund continues to be overweight in information technology, consumer discretionary, and industrials and underweight in financials, energy, and materials.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/187078468.pdfFebruary, 2022
During February 2022, the Pengana Axiom International Ethical Fund (“Fund”) underperformed the benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index (“Index”), in AUD terms by -0.6%.
The Fund underperformed as value stocks showed continued strength from year-end due to inflation and increasingly restrictive global monetary and fiscal policy. While strong global growth continues, some macroeconomic leading indicators we track such as PMI New Orders continued to show signs of moderating (57.9 January 2022 versus 61.0 December 2021). This, coupled with policy tightening and most recently heightened global geopolitical risks, has caused a significant flattening of the yield curve back to mid-2020 levels. While these factors will continue to act as a headwind for dynamic growth names, our improved relative performance is evidence that the market is increasingly discounting these issues.
We are continuing our focus on dynamic growth as positive EPS revisions should continue to be a factor that drives outperformance at this point in the economic cycle. Relative underperformance was primarily driven by sector allocation. Our overweight positioning in information technology continued to drag as did our zero weight in materials. The zero materials weighting is driven by structural headwinds facing many end markets as well as typically poor ESG scores given the pollutive nature of many of these businesses. The Fund continues to be overweight information technology, consumer discretionary and industrials, and underweight financials, materials, and energy.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/185612061.pdfJanuary, 2022
During a volatile January 2022, the Pengana Axiom International Ethical Fund (“Fund”) underperformed the benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index (“Index”), in net AUD terms, falling -9.4% while the index declined -by 1.9%. The Fund underperformed as value stocks showed continued strength from year-end due to inflation and increasingly restrictive global monetary and fiscal policy.
While strong global growth continues, some macroeconomic leading indicators that we track daily such as PMI New Orders are showing signs of moderating. This, coupled with policy tightening has caused a flattening of the yield curve.
While these factors will continue to hurt our dynamic growth names in the short term, we see signs that the market is increasingly discounting these issues, so we are continuing our disciplined focus on dynamic growth as positive EPS revisions should continue to be a factor that drives outperformance at this point in the economic cycle. Relative underperformance was driven by allocation and stock selection in information technology, health care, and industrials as well as our current underweight to energy and financials. The Fund continues to be overweight information technology, consumer discretionary, communication services, and industrials and underweight in financials, materials, consumer staples, and energy.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/184842544.pdfDecember, 2021
During December 2021, the Pengana Axiom International Ethical Fund (“Fund”) underperformed the benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index (“Index”), in AUD terms.
The Fund underperformed as value stocks showed some renewed strength into year-end due to inflation concerns, continued strong global growth, and potential central bank tightening measures causing global interest rates to increase. There are also some early signs that these reflationary tailwinds will continue to hurt our dynamic growth names as these factors crest into the first half of 2022. Underperformance was driven by stock selection in information technology and underweight to interest-rate-sensitive financials. The Fund continues to be the most overweight information technology, consumer discretionary and communication services, and underweight financials, materials, and consumer staples
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/182659433.pdfNovember, 2021
During November 2021, the Pengana Axiom International Ethical Fund (“Fund”) outperformed with a return of 3.7% versus the MSCI All Country World Index (“Index”) return of 3.4%. The Fund has outperformed the Index by 6% over the last 12 months.
The Fund outperformed the Index during an eventful month that ultimately ended with a drawdown in equities. In the US, Jerome Powell’s confirmation as Federal Reserve Bank chairman resulted in a positive start to the month as markets cheered the certainty from a continuation in current monetary policy, but that proved short-lived as policy rhetoric shifted towards a more hawkish stance on tapering and rate increases later in the month. In addition, a spike in COVID cases related to the spread of the Omicron variant drove a further risk-off sentiment towards the end of the month. The net impact of these events was a reduction in long-term interest rates on growth fears and an increase in short-term interest rates on hawkish monetary policy stance driving a flattening in the yield curve. As a result, financials and other economically sensitive sectors drove the market lower, while growth stocks outperformed. Accordingly, the Funds positive sector allocation offset negative returns from security selection during the month.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/181789353.pdfOctober, 2021
During October 2021, the Pengana Axiom International Ethical Fund outperformed the benchmark with a return of 3.0% versus 1.1% for the MSCI All Country World Index (“Index”), in AUD terms. The Fund outperformed in October largely due to security selection. While there was an underlying rotation to growth stocks in the market, other factors such as strong performance of energy and financial stocks offset their impact.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/181279542.pdfSeptember, 2021
During September 2021, the Pengana Axiom International Ethical Fund (“Fund”) fell by -4.7%, compared to the benchmark (MSCI All Country World Total Return Index (net, AUD)) which fell by -3.0%.
The Fund underperformed primarily due to sector allocation and security selection effects. Market rotation to value sectors can be seen with the Energy sector being the Index’s only positive performer over the month, and Financials being another leading sector. The Fund maintains some of the largest underweights to these value cyclical areas. Also, the innovation sectors of Information Technology, Communication Services, and Health Care, where the Fund allocates significant capital, were some of the worst performers in the market. As a result, the Fund detracted from relative performance in all these sectors except for Health Care where security selection offset the allocation impacts.
Moderna continued to be one of the Fund’s top performers in September and has generated much of the Fund’s outperformance in the third quarter. As we have been highlighting, the stock continued to benefit from the increased appreciation of the duration of vaccine sales, and as a result, sell-side earnings estimates have been continually revised higher. The Fund has continued to reduce the position size following its strong 100% return as forecasts are now approaching our expectations. Other positive single stock contributors include US financial, SVB Financial, and pandemic recovery stock in the live events space Live Nation.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/180242999.pdfAugust, 2021
During August 2021, the Pengana Axiom International Ethical Fund (“Fund”) delivered 4.9% to investors. The Fund’s benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index (“Index”), in AUD terms, delivered 3.1%.1
The Fund outperformed in August due largely to security selection in the areas of information technology, health care and communication services. Moderna and Danaher continued to be top five performers due to an increased appreciation in the market of the duration of the vaccine sales tailwinds. Countries have been locking in COVID vaccine capacities for 2022 and beyond, with added potential sales from headlines of booster shots for immunocompromised individuals and mixed COVID/flu shot trials underway. Both stocks remain as top ten positions for the Fund. Other strong performers included Adyen and Sea, as both benefitted from the ecommerce tailwinds of delayed reopening in their respective regions of operations due to a pick up in cases of the delta variant of COVID. Consumer discretionary and financials were the largest detractors from performance.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/179247018.pdfJuly, 2021
During July 2021, the Pengana Axiom International Ethical Fund (“Fund”) delivered 7.6% for investors, outperforming the benchmark’s return of 2.8%.
The Fund outperformed in July due largely to security selection especially in the areas of health care and information technology. The pick-up in infections of the Delta variant of the COVID virus sparked a market rotation away from recovery plays to durable growth areas, serving as a tailwind to the Fund. Interest rates continued to decline from March highs as growth peaked in the second quarter and inflation fears alleviated.
Along with these tailwinds, the Fund generated outperformance from top holding Moderna, which contributed nearly 200 bps of alpha in the month. The stock not only benefited from rising COVID infections, but also from continued new contracts with countries to provide their vaccine – fully booking out 2021 and substantially firming 2022 deliveries. Investors are now appreciating the under forecasting of revenues in consensus models for the coming years as the vaccine proves to be more durable than just a one-year phenomenon.
Danaher Corporation in the biologic contract manufacturing space was another top five alpha contributor that benefitted from the increased appreciation of vaccine sales durability.
Finally, ASML Holdings and Alphabet had positive reactions to strong second quarter results. ASML is seeing significant order activity for their next generation lithography tools as customers ramp up capex to address semiconductor shortages, while strong digital advertising spending drove a big beat on revenues and margins at Google.
File:May, 2021
On May 5th, Pengana announced the appointment of Axiom Investors to manage the Fund. Axiom is a Connecticut-based global equity fund manager formed in 1998 with over US$19billion in assets under management. The Fund, now renamed the Pengana Axiom International Ethical Fund, invests in companies that are dynamically growing and changing for the better. The Fund’s ethical investment policy has not changed and is implemented by Axiom with oversight from Pengana. Unhedged and hedged versions of the Fund are offered.
Following Axiom’s appointment, the process of transitioning the positions from the old to the new portfolio commenced. Pengana monitored this process throughout and can confirm that it was efficiently executed with minimal direct cost to the Fund and was fully completed by month-end.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/173551266.pdfFebruary, 2021
February was an extraordinary month within a normally placid bond market. Catalysed by growing inflation expectations, longer-dated bond yields rose by relatively large amounts and the spread of nominal yields and real yields widened. This had an immediate negative impact on growth stocks, which declined, while reflation stocks rebounded.
We have long argued that inflation is arguably the most significant risk facing the stock market and we continue to vigilantly monitor that risk. Some of the Fund's positions that should benefit from inflation and performed well, as anticipated, during Feb-21 include ING, Epiroc, Mowi, CME, Vulcan Materials, and Flow Traders. Meanwhile, the Fund's growthier' stocks that we anticipate to be most negatively impacted by rising rates were the weaker performers during the month and include, Thermo Fisher, Alibaba, Sunrun, and Electronic Arts. In aggregate the stocks performed as we would expect given an inflation scare, which provides us with a working compass should we choose to tilt the portfolio more meaningfully towards the reflation trade. The Fund remained relatively unchanged during the month and we added just one 'growthier' stock that was sold off during Feb-21. In aggregate, the portfolio remains highly differentiated from the market with 45% invested in the US Vs the Benchmark's 57%, 27% invested in Europe (ex-UK) Vs the Benchmark's 13%, and 18% invested in Emerging Markets Vs the Benchmark's 13%. It is a similar story when viewed along with sector exposure with the Fund meaningfully overweight Materials and underweight Information Technology and does not own a single FAANG stock. By our analysis, the Fund has an approx. 5.5% FCF yield, 8% revenue growth, and The largest market-related news event during January was the performance of heavily shorted shares including GameStop, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Blackberry. These price moves were driven mainly by retail investors, facilitated by Reddit's WallStreetBets chat room and free trading on platforms like Robinhood. Hedge Funds that were heavily short these stocks sustained material losses that will be difficult for them to recover from. For example, Melvin Capital was reported to have declined >50% during the month. As is typical on Wall Street, when there is blood in the streets, the sharks will circle. The sharks looked through the portfolios of the Hedge Funds experiencing the most pain and commenced selling their long positions, in anticipation that the weakened Hedge Funds would have a flood of redemptions and be forced sellers. This created some opportunities, which we took advantage of, and we added one new name (currently undisclosed) to the portfolio, however, in aggregate the portfolio remained relatively unchanged. The portfolio remains meaningfully differentiated from the Market. Approximately 43% of the fund is invested in the US, vs the Market's c55% weight, it does not hold a single FAANG stock, and it is overweight Europe and Asia. In aggregate, we calculate the fund is on a c5% FCF yield, 10% revenue growth, and has zero debt (the companies held by the fund are actually net cash). These metrics compare favourably to the broader market, which gives us some optimism about the Fund's outlook. 2020 was a good year for the Fund, which delivered 18.0% vs the Benchmark's 5.9%. There was no one single bet that drove the performance, but rather the continued dogged application of our long-term strategy. While we can't know in advance how our strategy will perform in any single year, we have a high degree of 2 confidence that it will perform well over the long term. Over the past five years, the Strategy has delivered a total return of 71.7% (11.4% p.a.) with a volatility of 8.9% p.a. These outcomes compare favourably with the Benchmark's 68.1% total return (10.9% p.a.) with a volatility of 10.5%. We have not done everything perfectly, but we have always stuck to our process, learned from our mistakes and we are pleased with the outcome. The month's trading was characterized as the reflation trade with the impetus being the strong results from various Covid vaccine trials and the belief that this will be the catalyst for economic growth in 2021. This resulted in a sharp and meaningful swing away from growth and to value stocks, with the former being a play on disruption-led growth and the latter on economic growth. In Nov-20 the fund delivered 5.9%, which was a strong outcome while still trailing the Market which delivered 7.1%. The stocks generating the largest positive returns were Mowi, Cigna, and Biotelemetry. We do not have large exposure to the growth-at-any price stocks meaning our weaker stocks did not come from that part of the market. Rather, the largest detractors were Alibaba and Tencent, with their performance explained by mushrooming Chinese regulation of dominant tech platforms. The fund is meaningfully differentiated to the Benchmark with 25% of the Fund invested in Europe ex-UK vs the Benchmark's 13% and 44% invested in North America vs the Benchmark's 60%. Further, the fund has fully exited the FAANG's and has 8% invested in the IT sector vs the Benchmark's 21%. Finally, the portfolio is on a c5% FCF yield, 8% revenue CAGR and the companies in the fund have virtually no debt, all of which compare favourably to the broader market. All portfolio holdings were compliant with the principles of the UN Global Compact and the portfolio had a "low ESG risk" rating, based on the aggregate weighted score of the portfolio's holdings at month-end (source: Sustainalytics). During the month, the Fund delivered 0.5%, which was a strong outcome in the context of a market that declined -0.4%. The Fund’s stocks performed well with Pinterest being the standout as its share price increased 21% following its 3Q20 results. Other stocks that made meaningful contributions were Tencent and Lumentum. Weaker performing stocks in the portfolio were Flow Traders, Mowi and Deutsche Boerse. The Fund is meaningfully differentiated to the Benchmark with 25% of the Fund invested in Europe ex-UK vs the Benchmark’s 13% and 42% invested in North America vs the Benchmark’s 61%. Further, the Fund has fully exited the FAANG’s and Microsoft and has 5% invested in the IT sector vs the Benchmark’s 22%. Finally, the portfolio is on a c5% FCF yield, 8% revenue CAGR and the companies in the Fund have virtually no debt, all of which compare favourably to the broader market. All portfolio holdings were compliant with the principles of the UN Global Compact and the portfolio had a “low ESG risk” rating, based on the aggregate weighted score of the portfolio’s holdings. https://pengana.com/our-funds/axiom-international-ethical-fund/ Pengana International Fund – Ethical aims to deliver returns that are greater than the MSCI All Country World Total Return Index (net, AUD) with lower volatility than the Index, over the medium to long term.January, 2021
December, 2020
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October, 2020
ticker: HOW0002AU
commentary_block: Array
factsheet_url:
release_schedule: Monthly
fund_features:
manager_contact_details: Array
asset_class: Foreign Equity
asset_category: Large Growth
peer_benchmark: Foreign Equity - Large Growth Index
broad_market_index: Developed -World Index
structure: Managed Fund