September, 2023
The Fund declined 4.8% during September, underperforming conventional global equities indices, such as the MSCI All Country World and FTSE All World net total return indices, by approximately 1.1%.
Global equities markets declined sharply during the month and benchmark bond rates in the US increased, negatively impacting higher growth stocks. The Fund’s underperformance during the month was primarily attributable to the relative outperformance of the Financials and Energy (i.e. oil and gas) sectors, to which the strategy has limited and no exposure, and the negative contribution of Zebra Technologies, discussed below – along with an absence of any significant outperformers.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-Sep2023.pdfAugust, 2023
The Fund returned 0.4% during August, underperforming conventional global equities benchmarks, such as the MSCI All Country World and FTSE All World net total return indices, by approximately 0.7%.
The Fund’s relative performance reflected the underperformance of environmental equities and was impacted by both sectoral and geographic exposures, with the Fund underweight US equities and sectors such as Energy (oil & gas) that outperformed during the month. The outperformance of the Fund’s holdings in US technology services providers was offset by underperformance of European and industrial stocks. Key contributors are both discussed below.
Globally equities markets reported declines in August, however the Australian dollar weakened by more than 3% against the US dollar during the month, benefitting Australian investors and bolstering Australian dollar denominated returns.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-Aug2023.pdfJuly, 2023
The Fund returned 2.2% for July, underperforming conventional global equities indices, such as the MSCI All Country World and FTSE All World net total return indices, by approximately 0.2%.
Global equities markets continued to perform strongly during the month and the relative performance of the Fund was modestly impacted by the outperformance of the Financials and Energy sectors, which broadly fall outside of the Fund’s remit, and the strong performance of large cap technology stocks Alphabet and Meta, which are not in the Fund’s investment universe. Those effects aside, the Fund’s monthly performance reflected a mix of stock specific out and under performers, with the notable contributors discussed below.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-Jul2023.pdfJune, 2023
The Fund returned 1.3% during June, lagging conventional global equities benchmarks, such as the All Country World Net Total Return Index, by around 1.6%. Year to date in 2023 the Fund has returned 16.5% and has outperformed conventional global equities benchmarks by around 0.4%.
Global equities markets rose during the month, with Australian dollar denominated returns partially offset by the strengthening of the Australian dollar against the US dollar. Global equities returns were again led by the strong performance of mega cap growth stocks such as Tesla, Apple and Nvidia. The Fund’s lack of exposure to this set of stocks contributed to the monthly underperformance, however the major detractors were stock specific, as discussed below.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-Jun2023.pdfMay, 2023
The Fund returned 0.4% in May, underperforming traditional global equities benchmarks, such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index, by 0.7%.
Equity market behaviour during the month was significantly driven by NVIDIA Corporation’s outlook for growth in sales of its high performance computing processors – used in gaming and, more notably, artificial intelligence (AI) related applications. The company, which is not a holding of the Fund, guided to quarterly sales 45% above consensus expectations, driven by strong demand from its Data Center segment as both enterprise customers and cloud service providers rush to build out AI processing capability. NVIDIA’s share price rose 57% over the month and led large gains in the ‘FAANG’ technology stocks which are generally perceived as beneficiaries of AI.
The Fund holds a range of stocks that we believe are likely to benefit from the development and increasing use of AI and in aggregate these stocks contributed positively to the Fund’s performance. However, the large contribution of the large cap ‘FAANG’ stocks to index performance of stocks, including companies such Apple, Alphabet, Meta and Netflix that are not within the Fund’s eligible investment universe, was the primary reason for the Fund’s modest underperformance during the month.
The Fund’s holdings with exposure to AI include direct cloud service providers Amazon.com, Inc (+14%) and Microsoft Corporation (+7%); semiconductor memory leaders Micron Technology, Inc. (+6%) and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (+10%); the manufacturer of NVIDIA’s processors Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd (+17%); semiconductor capital equipment providers Advantest Corp. (+65%, discussed below), KLA Corporation (+15%); and silicon wafer manufacturer Shin-Etsu Chemical Co Ltd (+8%).
The Fund also holds positions in technology consultancies Accenture Plc (+9%) and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (+5%), which will generate new business from customers seeking assistance to adopt and utilise AI.
The Fund also holds positions in several information services business that already utilise different AI approaches to provide deeper information and analytics from their, and their clients’, proprietary databases, and for which additional growth from these services has supported share price outperformance in recent years. These holdings underperformed during the month after US educational software company Chegg Inc. (not a holding of the Fund) issued a major cut to its guidance attributed to the impact of ChatGPT.
Pearson plc (-11%) has a focus on education and was most adversely impacted, whereas Wolters Kluwer NV (-13%) and Relx plc (-6%) focus on information analytics and decision tools in areas such as health, tax and accounting, finance, science, and law. We believe the significant intellectual property controlled by these companies will allow them to continue to use AI capabilities to their benefit over time.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-May2023.pdfApril, 2023
The Fund returned 1.2% in April, underperforming traditional global equities benchmarks, such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index (ACWI), by 1.6%.
The Fund’s performance was impacted by the underperformance of environmental equities, reflected by indices such as the FTSE Environmental Opportunities All Share Total Return Index, which declined by 0.5% (in Australian dollar terms). Sectors in which the Fund has little or no exposure, such as Energy and Financials, outperformed, whereas sectors such as manufacturing and electronic technology, in which the Fund is overweight, underperformed.
The Fund’s exposure to more defensive areas, such as information services, healthcare technology and waste management, contributed positively to returns.
File:March, 2023
The Fund returned 4.4% during March, outperforming traditional global equities benchmarks, such as the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI), by 0.6%. Out-performance largely reflected the absence of exposure to the Financials sector which underperformed in a month when Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failed in the US and Credit Suisse was taken over by UBS with support from the Swiss government. Notable contributions from individual stocks are highlighted below. For the quarter ending 31 March 2023, the Fund returned 13.2%, outperforming traditional global equities benchmarks such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index by 4.5%. The quarterly outperformance reflected both a reversal of sector headwinds experienced during 2022 – with areas outside the Fund’s focus such as Energy and Financials underperforming - and positive stock specific contributions from European industrials and US technology stocks that performed strongly during the quarter.
File:February, 2023
The Fund returned 2.7% during February, outperforming traditional global equities benchmarks, such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index, by 1.3%. The Fund’s outperformance was supported by strong stock specific returns, discussed below, and the Fund’s overweight exposure to European equities, which outperformed during the month. The significant depreciation of the Australian dollar against the US dollar also supported the Fund’s positive returns during a month in which headline (US dollar denominated) global equities benchmarks declined.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-Feb2023.pdfJanuary, 2023
The Fund returned 5.5% during January, outperforming traditional global equities benchmarks, such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index, by 2.4%. The Fund’s outperformance was primarily driven by stock specific returns, highlights of which are detailed below. The Fund also benefited from the relatively strong performance of industry groups such as electronic technology, health technology and manufacturing – in which the Fund’s investment universe is overweight – while sectors such as energy and financials - which are mostly outside the Fund’s investment mandate - lagged. The Australian dollar appreciated by 3.6% against the US dollar, somewhat muting the Fund’s Australian dollar denominated returns during a month in which global equities rallied strongly.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-Jan2023.pdfDecember, 2022
After a strong recovery in October and November, global equities markets retreated again during December. The Fund was down 5.0% for the month, slightly outperforming traditional global equities benchmarks such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index, which was down 5.1%.
The Fund finished the quarter ending 31 December 2022 up 4.8%, outperforming the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index by 0.8%. Sustainably themed equities underperformed broader traditional benchmarks in December as technology stocks underperformed and sectors in which the Fund’s investment universe has limited exposure, such as financials, consumer staples and pharmaceuticals, outperformed.
The major contributors to the Fund’s monthly performance are discussed below. The Fund finished the calendar year down 18.7%, underperforming traditional global equities such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index by 6.2% - reversing the majority of the Fund’s outperformance in 2021. 2022 was a challenging year for investors and this was particularly the case for sustainably themed strategies such as the Nanuk New World Fund which typically have little or no exposure to the sectors that performed strongly, such as energy (i.e oil & gas), defence and financials.
The Fund’s sustainably themed investment universe was down 19.8%* over the year (in Australian dollar terms), underperforming traditional global benchmarks by 8.1%. Whilst the Fund’s outperformance of this internal reference point is of little consolation to investors, the factors that drove the underperformance of sustainably themed equities – large variations in sector performance and the significant underperformance of higher growth and smaller capitalisation stocks are unlikely to be repeated this year at least to the same extent and are, in time, likely to reverse. Positive contributions to the Fund’s annual performance came from a variety of more defensive companies including education and information services business Pearson PLC, which demonstrated progress of its turnaround strategy, US energy efficient building materials company Carlisle Companies, German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG, US rail equipment supplier Westinghouse Air Brake Technology and paper based sustainable packaging leader Graphic Packaging Holding Company.
The major negative contributors have all been discussed at some length in previous monthly reports, and included Kion Group which saw profits on multi year contracts in its warehouse automation systems business collapse in the face of supply chain disruptions and rising input costs, US organic food manufacturer Hain Celestial Group, which suffered from sharply rising input costs and a consumer shift away from its premium products, Indian solar farm developer and independent power producer Azure Power Global, which saw senior leadership turnover amidst a whistleblower complaint at one of its projects and digital technology consultancy Cognizant Technology Solutions, which suffered persistent labour shortages and rising costs.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-Dec2022.pdfNovember, 2022
The Fund returned 3.7% during November, outperforming traditional global equities benchmarks, such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index, by 0.8%.
The month saw a significant rally in global equities markets coinciding with a (modest) fall in reported year on year inflation in the US and a related fall in bond yields. Sectors of focus for the Fund such as Industrials and Technology outperformed whilst the Energy sector (i.e. oil and gas) underperformed.
The Australian dollar strengthened against the US dollar during the month, reducing the Fund’s reported Australian dollar denominated returns when compared to US dollar denominated returns and headline benchmarks noted in the Market Commentary below. The Fund benefitted from positive stock specific contributions across a range of sectors.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-Nov2022-1.pdfOctober, 2022
The Fund returned 6.5% during October, broadly in line with a strong recovery in global equities benchmarks such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index (which was up 6.6% in Australian dollar terms). The Fund’s performance reflected a mix of out and underperformers during the first part of a challenging quarterly reporting period in which many companies are addressing the impact of inflationary pressures, continued supply chain disruptions and signs of declining demand.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-Oct2022.pdfSeptember, 2022
The Fund was down 5.4% in during August, lagging conventional global equities indices, such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index (AUD), by 1.8% amidst a significant fall in global equities markets. The Fund’s under-performance was primarily due to negative contributions from several stocks that underperformed amid the weakening outlook for economic growth, detailed below. Factor risk was also a modest headwind as Financials, in which the Fund’s eligible investment universe is significantly under-weight, out-performed, while Industrials, which the Fund is overweight, lagged. It should be noted that the Australian dollar depreciated by 6.5% against its US counterpart in the month, resulting in a benefit to the Fund (whose foreign currency denominated assets are held unhedged) and supporting the Fund’s reported return during a month in which international equities markets fell around 10%. Stock returns shown below are in local currency terms.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-Sep2022.pdfAugust, 2022
The Fund was down 4.7% during August, lagging conventional global equities indices, such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index, by 2.8% during a month in which equities markets reversed gains from the prior month. The Fund’s absence of exposure to the traditional energy sector (i.e. oil & gas), which does not form part of its eligible investment universe, and an overweight position in European equities contributed to the underperformance, however it was primarily attributable to the above average proportion of the Fund’s holdings that underperformed during the month. Key contributors are discussed below.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-Aug2022.pdfJuly, 2022
The Fund returned 6.5% during July, outperforming traditional global equities benchmarks, such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index (ACWI), by 1.1% in a month that saw a strong recovery in global equities markets. The outperformance of industrial stocks, which are strongly represented in the Fund’s environmental sustainability and resource efficiency focused investment universe, and the underperformance of financials, which are not, contributed to the Fund’s outperformance. In addition to the key stocks contributing to the Fund’s outperformance noted below, several smaller positions reported share price rises of over 20% - including mapping technology leader TomTom, North American forestry and timber company West Fraser Timber and semiconductor capital equipment manufacturer KLA Corporation.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-Jul2022.pdfJune, 2022
The Fund was down 6.0% during June, underperforming traditional global equities benchmarks, such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index, by 1.6%.
The Fund’s negative return was driven by the weak performance of equities markets, discussed in the Market Commentary below. The Fund’s underperformance was partially attributable to its overweight exposure to European equities markets, which underperformed, and underweight exposure to the Chinese and Hong Kong markets, which outperformed. At a sector level, the Fund’s underperformance was largely driven by more cyclical holdings in European industrial stocks and semiconductor stocks. Notable contributors are discussed further below.
The Fund was down 9.5% for the quarter ending 30 June 2022, underperforming traditional global equities benchmarks, such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index, by 1.6%. The Fund’s quarterly underperformance was primarily driven by the negative stock specific contributions from Hain Celestial Group and Kion Group, both discussed in prior months’ investor reports, as well as significant declines in higher growth stocks including Alteryx, Tandem Diabetes, and Zuora during a period in which growth stocks continued to significantly underperform. It was also negatively impacted by the strong performance of the energy (i.e. oil & gas) sector which does not form part of the Fund’s eligible investment universe and which continued to outperform as supply disruptions drove oil and gas prices higher. Over the quarter the Fund’s better performing stocks came from a range of sectors including sustainable packaging, utilities and healthcare technology where recent economic disruptions are likely to have less effect.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-Jun2022.pdfMay, 2022
The Fund was down 2.2% during May, underperforming traditional global equities indices such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index (ACWI), by 1.4%.
The Fund’s lack of exposure to the Energy sector (i.e. oil & gas), which is excluded from the Fund’s investment universe and outperformed significantly during the month, accounted for approximately 0.5% of the Fund’s underperformance. The remainder was primarily attributable to the underperformance of Hain Celestial, noted below, and several of the Fund’s higher growth stocks
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-May2022-1.pdfApril, 2022
The Fund was down 1.5% in April, outperforming traditional global equities indices, such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index, by 1.3%. These returns are reported in Australian dollar terms and benefitted from the depreciation of the Australian dollar against the US dollar during a month in which global equities markets fell significantly, as discussed below.
The Fund’s out-performance was primarily attributable to stock selection and the positive contribution from positions in lower growth industries within the Fund’s portfolio such as paper-based packaging, building materials and timber and information services and publishing businesses. Outperformance in these areas was partially offset by the underperformance of stocks in higher growth areas such as software and by several companies being impacted by inflationary pressure and supply chain disruptions, as noted below
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-Apr2022.pdfMarch, 2022
The Fund was down 3.2% in March, underperforming conventional global equities indices, such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index, by 1.9%.
The Fund’s relative performance was negatively impacted by the Fund’s underweight exposure to the Energy (i.e. Oil & Gas) sector which outperformed significantly during the month, as well as the Fund’s slightly overweight exposure to European equities. The majority of the Fund’s relative underperformance in March, however, related to stock specific underperformance, largely attributable to companies in the portfolio that are being impacted by cost inflation and supply chain disruption arising from the The Russian invasion of Ukraine and coronavirus-related restrictions in China.
The Fund was down 10.7% over the first quarter, underperforming conventional global equities indices, such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index, by 2.4% The Fund’s underperformance over the quarter was primarily attributable to sectoral allocation effects. Financials and Energy, sectors in which the Fund has little and no exposure respectively, significantly outperformed during the month and Industrials and Technology, in which the Fund has overweight positions, underperformed the broader market as geopolitical and macro factors dictated market behaviour.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-Mar2022.pdfFebruary, 2022
The Fund was down 4.0% in February, outperforming traditional global equities indices, such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index, by 1.5% and outperforming the Fund’s environmental equities Reference Index, the FTSE Environmental Opportunities All Share Total Return Index, by 2.1%. The Fund’s return was driven by the widespread declines in global equities during the month and the concurrent strengthening of the Australian dollar.
The Fund’s outperformance was attributable to stock-specific returns, mostly related to earnings announcements during the month as highlighted below. The Fund’s overweight exposure to sectors such as Technology Services and Producer Manufacturing and underweight exposure to Energy (i.e. oil & gas) presented a modest headwind during the month, but this was more than overcome by stock-specific contributions.
The Fund’s geographic exposures had a limited impact on performance. The Fund has no direct exposure to Russian or Eastern European equities, and only minor exposures to companies with operations in or revenue exposure to Russia and Ukraine. The most significantly exposed holding is UK-listed multinational paper and packaging company Mondi, which has operations in Russia that account for the production-related to 12% of the company’s revenue and primarily serves the local market, as well as a paper bag plant in Ukraine where production has been suspended. The position is 0.4% of the Fund. Aside from Mondi, the Fund’s indirect exposure is limited to a small number of multi-national businesses such as Siemens and Air Liquide, for which Russia represents less than 2% of revenue. Siemens has suspended its operations in Russia.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-Feb2022.pdfJanuary, 2022
The Fund was down 4.0% in January, underperforming traditional global equities indices, such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index, by 2.1% and outperforming the Fund’s Reference Index, the FTSE Environmental Opportunities All Share Total Return Index (EOAS), by 0.9%.
The majority of the underperformance against broader global equities indices was attributable to the outperformance of the Financial and Energy (i.e. oil & gas) sectors in which the Fund has limited and no exposure respectively and to a lesser extent the underperformance of smaller capitalisation stocks. The remainder of the Fund’s underperformance was primarily attributable to the reversal of recent gains of several stocks that had outperformed in late 2021, as noted below
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-Jan2022.pdfDecember, 2021
The Fund returned 2.8% during December, outperforming traditional global equities indices such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index, by 1.4% and outperforming the Fund’s environmental equities Reference Index, the FTSE Environmental Opportunities All Share Total Return Index, by 2.1%. The Fund’s outperformance was primarily attributable to stock specific returns, led by network equipment leader Ciena Corporation. Other significant contributions came from a range of sectors including technology consulting (Cognizant and Alten), building materials (Carlisle Companies), sustainable textiles (Lenzing) and automotive component suppliers (Hyundai Mobis and TomTom). Key contributors and recent changes to the portfolio are discussed further below. The Fund also benefitted modestly from the underperformance of large capitalisation growth stocks, to which the Fund has some exposure through positions in Microsoft and Amazon but remains underweight compared to the broader market.
The Fund returned 7.4% over the final quarter of 2021 and 32.2% over the 2021 calendar year, outperforming the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index by 1.4% and 6.4% respectively, and outperforming the Fund’s environmental equities Reference Index, the FTSE Environmental Opportunities All Share Total Return Index by 4.3% over the year. The Fund lagged the EOAS Index by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, mainly due to the performance of Tesla which represents around 10% of the index and which rose 36%.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-Dec2021.pdfNovember, 2021
The Fund returned 6.8% in November, outperforming traditional global equities indices such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index by 3.4% and outperforming the Fund’s environmental equities Reference Index, the FTSE Environmental Opportunities All Share Total Return Index by 1.8%. The month saw a significant reversal of market movements in October. US dollar denominated global equities indices declined, with the Fund’s Australian dollar denominated returns supported by the depreciation of the Australian dollar against the US dollar during the month.
The Fund’s outperformance was driven by stock specific contributions and more than reversed the prior month’s underperformance. Top contributors, detailed below, came from a range of sectors. The Fund also benefitted from the underperformance of Financial and Energy sectors, to which the Fund has little and no direct exposure.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-Nov2021.pdfOctober, 2021
The Fund was down 2.1% in October, lagging traditional global equities indices, such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index, by 3.2% and the Fund’s environmental equities Reference Index, the FTSE Environmental Opportunities All Share Total Return Index, by 6.9%. As discussed below, global equities indices performed strongly during October, however the Australian dollar appreciated by 4% against the US dollar during the month, reducing the reported Australian dollar denominated returns of the Fund.
The relative underperformance of the Fund was attributable to the combined effect of several factors. Large cap growth stocks, in which the Fund is underweight relative to the broader market, outperformed, and smaller and mid capitalisation stocks, in which the Fund is overweight relative to the broader market, underperformed. Additionally, Japanese equities, in which the Fund is overweight relative to the broader market, notably underperformed during October.
At a stock level the Fund’s performance was impacted by the partial reversal of recent gains in several of the Fund’s larger positions as well as companies that reported weaker than anticipated Q3 results or slowing growth resulting from supply chain disruptions in the semiconductor and automotive industries, normalisation of COVID induced demand and cost pressures from rising commodity, labour and freight prices
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-Oct2021.pdfSeptember, 2021
The Fund was down 4.4% for the month of September, underperforming traditional global equities indices, such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index, by 1.4%, and underperforming environmental equities, as represented by the Fund’s Reference Index, the FTSE Environmental Opportunities All Share Total Return Index, by 0.6%.
The Fund’s performance in September reflected the partial reversal of the strong recent performance of equity markets and some of the Fund’s larger holdings as well as the strong performance of Financials and Energy sectors to which the Fund has very limited exposure. This was offset partially by the strong performance of the Fund’s holdings in Japan, which represent around 10% of the Fund’s portfolio and which benefitted from the strong performance of the Japanese equities market during the month. For the quarter ending 30 September the Fund returned 4.9%, outperforming traditional global equities indices, such as the MSCI All Country World Net Return Index by 2.1%.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Quarterly-Shareholder-Report-Sep2021.pdfAugust, 2021
The Fund returned 3.5% for the month of August, outperforming traditional global equities indices, such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index, by 0.4%, but underperforming environmental equities, as represented by the Fund’s Reference Index, the FTSE Environmental Opportunities All Share Total Return Index, by 1.2%.
The Fund’s performance was primarily driven by strong quarterly results reported by several of the Fund’s technology and healthcare holdings. The underperformance relative to the FTSE Environmental Opportunities All Share Index was primarily driven by contributions to that index’s performance from its large weightings in Tesla, Microsoft and TSMC – which now collectively account for 25% of the index. The Fund holds smaller positions in Microsoft and TSMC but does not hold shares in Tesla.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-Aug2021.pdfJuly, 2021
The Fund returned 6.0% for the month of July, outperforming traditional global equities indices, such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index (ACWI), by 3.1%, and outperforming the Fund’s environmental equities Reference Index, the FTSE Environmental Opportunities All Share Total Return Index, by 1.8%. The Fund’s performance was primarily driven by stock specific returns and, in particular, by companies which saw positive revisions to future earnings estimates on the back of strong earning
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-Jul2021.pdfJune, 2021
The Fund returned 4.3% during June, underperforming traditional global equities indices such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index by 0.2% but continuing its recent outperformance of environmental equities indices including the Fund’s reference
index, the FTSE Environmental Opportunities All Share Index (EOAS), by 0.6%. It was a relatively uneventful month for the Fund’s holdings, with relative performance more significantly impacted by the variation in returns seen across markets and key segments within the market – most notably the very strong
performance of large cap growth stocks to which the Fund and EOAS index have limited exposure. The Fund benefitted from the depreciation of the Australian dollar during the month, contributing around 3% to the reported return (although not significantly impacting its returns relative to the indices noted above, which are also reported in Australian dollar terms).
The Fund returned 7.0% for the second quarter of 2020, underperforming traditional global equities benchmarks as growth stocks, and particularly large cap US growth stocks, recovered strongly from underperformance during the first quarter, and outperforming environmental equities indices as many pureplay stocks in areas such as renewable energy continued to underperform as their prospects fail to live up to the expectations embedded in very lofty valuations. The Fund has maintained low exposures to these areas in recent months but opportunities are emerging as share prices decline.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Quarterly-Shareholder-Report-Jun2021.pdfMay, 2021
The Fund returned 0.4% during May, lagging traditional global equities indices such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index by around 1.0% but outperforming environmental equities benchmarks such as the FTSE Environmental Opportunities All Share Index (EOAS) by 0.3%
Global equities continued to perform strongly during May, with the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index up 1.6% in US dollar terms. Regionally, strength was broad based: the US’ S&P 500 Index rose 0.5%, Europe’s Stoxx 50 Index rose 1.5%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.2% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 1.5%. The first two weeks of the month saw a significant correction in many higher growth stocks as the US 10-year treasury yield rose on rising concerns of sustained inflationary pressures, but a subsequent decline in yields saw technology and growth stocks at least partially recover as these concerns subsided towards the end of the month.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Monthly-Shareholder-Report-May2021.pdfDecember, 2020
The Fund was up 0.7% in December, outperforming traditional global equities benchmarks such as the MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index by 0.8%, but lagging the FTSE Environmental Opportunities All Share Total Return Index by 1.2%. Global equities markets performed strongly during the month, however the Australian dollar strengthened digit rises in a range of stocks in the automotive, construction and building materials, and semiconductor sectors, while positions in more defensive sectors such as industrial gas and waste management lagged. The best performers were Japanese automotive component supplier Denso, which received upgrades during the month associated with its positive exposure to vehicle electrification, TomTom, also a potential beneficiary of EV and autonomous driving uptake and sustainable textiles leader Lenzing, which has seen signs of its business recovering from the COVID related slowdown earlier this year.
The Fund acquired two new positions during the month, Inspire Medical Systems and TomTom NV. Inspire has developed an innovative implantable device to treat sleep apnoea and has been growing revenues at ~35% per year. TomTom is best known as a provider of portable satellite navigation systems, a business it still owns but which is in structural decline. TomTom’s primary business is mapping and location services, providing not only detailed maps but real time traffic and navigation data and mapping software and APIs used by a range of enterprises such as Apple, Microsoft and Uber to support their mapping services, as well a wide range of auto manufacturers.
It is one of three leading global players with mapping technology and services able to meet the increasingly sophisticated demands of the automotive industry, where integrated navigation software is becoming increasingly common. Electric vehicles demand better mapping and navigation services to manage both range and performance and adoption of autonomous driving solutions reliant on high-definition maps with universal coverage and real time updating. EVs and those offering higher levels of autonomy are likely to utilise more, higher value, mapping services – driving structural growth as these technology shifts accelerate. The fund also exited two smaller positions, in water and gas utility Essential Utilities and analytical technology company Waters Corporation, both of which have performed well.
File: https://commentary.quantreports.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NNWF-Quarterly-Shareholder-Report-Dec2020.pdfasset_class: Foreign Equity
asset_category: Large Blend - Responsible Investment
peer_benchmark: Foreign Equity - Large Responsible Index
broad_market_index: Developed -World Index
manager_contact_details: Array
ticker: SLT2171AU
release_schedule: Monthly
commentary_block: Array
factsheet_url:
https://www.nanukasset.com/funds/monthly-reports
fund_features:
Nanuk New World aims to provide investment returns which exceed the Fund’s benchmark index return – the FTSE Environmental Opportunities All Share Total Return Index, after Management Fees and Usual Expenses, over the long term. The Fund provides exposure primarily to a diversified portfolio of listed global equity securities focused on the broad themes of environmental sustainability and resource efficiency.
structure: Managed Fund