November, 2020
• The Fund returned 8.29% in November 2020, compared with a return for the Benchmark of 6.99%, with growing optimism over the deployment of a COVID-19 vaccine driving the MSCI ACWI ex Australia to its strongest monthly return since May 2013.
• All market sectors rose in November on the back of vaccine optimism, led by Energy and Financials; the returns of defensive sectors though, such as Utilities and Consumer Staples, were more muted. For the Fund, Information Technology was the top relative contributor, driven by positive selection in US IT and overweight positioning in South Korean IT. Utilities was also a positive relative contributor, driven by an underweight to US Utilities. Financials was the largest sector detractor on a relative basis, driven by underweight positioning in French Financials and Canadian Financials.
• Most regions moved higher in November, led by key European markets, including France, Germany, and the UK. The Fund’s largest relative contributor at a country level was the US, driven by positive selection in US IT, as mentioned. Hong Kong was also a positive country contributor on a relative basis, owing to an underweight to Hong Kong Consumer Discretionary. France was the largest relative detractor, owing to underweight positioning in French Financials, as mentioned, as well as an underweight to French Industrials.
• Arrowstreet employs a quantitative benchmark-aware approach, dynamically taking overweight and underweight positions in countries, sectors, and individual stocks, with the aim of achieving long-term outperformance of the Benchmark. Arrowstreet’s core investment style seeks to outperform during a broad range of market environments, and its systematic quantitative approach allows Arrowstreet to react quickly through market volatility
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/162268962.pdfOctober, 2020
• The Fund returned -0.10% in October 2020, compared with a return for the Benchmark of -0.46%, with the divergence in Asian market performance from the US and Europe leading to a slightly negative result overall. • Most market sectors saw declines in October, including Energy, following a further fall in oil prices, and the Health Care sector; Utilities and Communication Services moved higher. For the Fund, Information Technology was the top relative contributor, driven by positive selection in US IT and underweight positioning in German IT. Consumer Staples was also a positive relative contributor, driven by positive selection in US Consumer Staples. Utilities was the largest sector detractor on a relative basis, driven by underweight positioning in US Utilities. • At a country level, European markets, including Germany, the UK and Switzerland, moved lower as COVID-19 cases in the region soared, while the Asian region again outperformed, led by China, Taiwan and South Korea. The US was the Fund’s largest relative contributor, driven by positive selection in both US Consumer Discretionary and US IT. China was the largest relative detractor, owing to underweight positioning in Chinese Communication Services and Chinese Consumer Discretionary.
• Arrowstreet employs a quantitative benchmark-aware approach, dynamically taking overweight and underweight positions in countries, sectors, and individual stocks, with the aim of achieving long-term outperformance of the Benchmark. Arrowstreet’s core investment style seeks to outperform during a broad range of market environments, and its systematic quantitative approach allows Arrowstreet to react quickly through market volatility.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/160483270.pdfSeptember, 2020
The Fund returned 1.31% in August 2020, compared with a return for the Benchmark of 2.92%, with the MSCI All Country World Ex Australia Index recording its strongest month since April 2020. • Arrowstreet employs a quantitative benchmark-aware approach, dynamically taking overweight and underweight positions in countries, sectors, and individual stocks, with the aim of achieving long-term outperformance of the Benchmark. • Cyclical sectors, led by Consumer Discretionary and Information Technology, drove the market higher in August, while Utilities and Energy saw negative returns. Utilities was the top relative contributor for the Fund, driven by underweight positioning in US Utilities. Conversely, Information Technology was the largest sector detractor on a relative basis, driven by weak selection within US IT, as well as an overweight to South Korean IT. The Materials sector also weighed on relative returns, due to overweight positioning in Canadian Materials and Brazilian Materials. • At a country level, developed markets such as the US, Japan, and Germany delivered strong performance during the month, while many emerging markets suffered falls, including Chile, Brazil, Turkey and Thailand. Relative to the Benchmark, the US was the largest relative detractor from the Fund’s performance in August, primarily as a result of weak selection within US IT as mentioned. Switzerland was the largest relative country contributor, owing to underweight positioning in Swiss Health Care and Swiss Consumer Staples. • Arrowstreet’s investment approach offers several features relevant to the elevated volatility of the recent market environment; in particular, its core investment style, which seeks to outperform during a broad range of market environments, and its systematic quantitative approach, which allows Arrowstreet to react quickly through market volatility.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/157329841.pdfticker: MAQ0464AU
commentary_block: Array
factsheet_url:
https://documentscdn.financialexpress.net/Literature/3CB78D590676B77A6A8A0D332B6E8144/157329841.pdf
asset_class: Foreign Equity
asset_category: Large Blend - Quantitative
peer_benchmark: Foreign Equity - Large Quantitative Index
broad_market_index: Developed -World Index
structure: Managed Fund