Can you give a brief overview of your strategy in terms of what you are trying to achieve for investors, your investment process and the make-up of the investment team?

FP Carmignac European Leaders is a Europe ex-UK equity strategy seeking to achieve capital growth over a minimum of five years. The Fund follows a fundamental selective bottom-up investment process to find quality companies, businesses with attractive long-term prospects and robust fundamentals that can grow under their own steam, irrespective of the macroeconomic environment. Our investment process follows a structured, quantifiable process with a sustainable objective. The focus is on companies which demonstrate high long-term profitability and reinvests for the future. Our investment process also includes positive screening. We allocate at least 80% of the portfolio’s net assets to companies that actively contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 

While the ultimate decision-making authority and accountability lies with me, I of course have access to the expertise of the wider investment team at Carmignac, including the Research Analysts who are sector specialists. The Analysts play a crucial role in conducting analysis in their respective areas and continuously monitoring the investment thesis on positions held in the portfolio. As Fund Manager, I oversees the portfolio construction and risk management of the strategy since its inception in 2019. 

How are you currently positioning your portfolio?

The Fund continues to rely on bottom-up fundamental analysis with a medium-term horizon. We are currently significantly invested in the Healthcare sector, because of our stock picking and fundamentals-driven focus. This exposure gives our equity allocation the quality and defensive bias we believe is needed in the current economic environment. Our perspective remains cautious of the potential impact of weaker corporate and economic data. Nevertheless, we keep an eye across themes and investment opportunities to capture them in our strategy. We remain open to the possibility of a cyclical recovery and are actively exploring opportunities to incorporate cyclicality into our investment strategy, thus we added some positions in the Industrials and high-quality Luxury Goods names. The potential for greater visibility in the market is expected to yield favourable outcomes. We anticipate that as economic growth slows down, inflation will also decrease, leading to a gradual decline in interest rates. 

Can you identify a couple of key investment opportunities for your fund you are playing at the moment in the portfolio? This could be at a stock,

Can you give a brief overview of your strategy in terms of what you are trying to achieve for investors, your investment process and the make-up of the investment team?

FP Carmignac European Leaders is a Europe ex-UK equity strategy seeking to achieve capital growth over a minimum of five years. The Fund follows a fundamental selective bottom-up investment process to find quality companies, businesses with attractive long-term prospects and robust fundamentals that can grow under their own steam, irrespective of the macroeconomic environment. Our investment process follows a structured, quantifiable process with a sustainable objective. The focus is on companies which demonstrate high long-term profitability and reinvests for the future. Our investment process also includes positive screening. We allocate at least 80% of the portfolio’s net assets to companies that actively contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 

Since the Fund’s inception in 2019, the Fund has been managed by Mark Denham, Head of Equities at Carmignac. Mark has the ultimate decision-making authority and accountability. He has access to the expertise of the wider investment team at Carmignac, including the Research Analysts who are sector specialists. The Analysts play a crucial role in conducting analysis in their respective areas and continuously monitoring the investment thesis on positions held in the portfolio. The Fund Manager oversees the portfolio construction and risk management of the strategy.

How are you currently positioning your portfolio?

The Fund continues to rely on bottom-up fundamental analysis with a medium-term horizon. We are currently significantly invested in the Healthcare sector, because of our stock picking and fundamentals-driven focus. This exposure gives our equity allocation the quality and defensive bias we believe is needed in the current economic environment. Our perspective remains cautious of the potential impact of weaker corporate and economic data. Nevertheless, we keep an eye across themes and investment opportunities to capture them in our strategy. We remain open to the possibility of a cyclical recovery and are actively exploring opportunities to incorporate cyclicality into our investment strategy, thus we added some positions in the Industrials and high-quality Luxury Goods names. The potential for greater visibility in the market is expected to yield favourable outcomes. We anticipate that as economic growth slows down, inflation will also decrease, leading to a gradual decline in interest rates. 

Can you identify a couple of key investment opportunities for your fund you are playing at the moment

In its monthly investment report, the £993.1m trust said its overall commodity position had positively driven the trust’s returns for April, noting the move into silver it had made in the previous month was the single biggest contributor to returns. The trust’s net asset value was up 0.6% for the period and now sits at £287.9m, according to data from the Association of Investment Companies. ‘The worst 12 calendar months in the history of Ruffer Investment Company’ Its share price was up 2.6% for the month, a boost to the flatlined year-to-date growth, according to the report. Ov…

In its monthly investment report, the £993.1m trust said its overall commodity position had positively driven the trust’s returns for April, noting the move into silver it had made in the previous month was the single biggest contributor to returns. The trust’s net asset value was up 0.6% for the period and now sits at £287.9m, according to data from the Association of Investment Companies. ‘The worst 12 calendar months in the history of Ruffer Investment Company’ Its share price was up 2.6% for the month, a boost to the flatlined year-to-date growth, according to the report. Ov…

In a stock exchange notice today (10 May), the trust said the sales represent 4.5% of its portfolio by value, based on  Jones Lang LaSalle’s (JLL) draft valuation in August 2023. The £14.6m from the sales is also 12.4% below the August 2023 values, Home noted. Harcus Parker weighs legal action against Home REIT sister fund amid FCA probe The latest sales bring the total number of portfolio properties sold to 585, with a further 262 properties having been exchanged on. The total gross proceeds since the sales began in August last year now stands at £125.8m which, in aggregate, an…

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Compared to Q1 2023, GDP has increased by 0.2% in the same period this year, according to ONS data published today (10 May). UK inflation falls less than expected over March to 3.2% Both services and the production sector grew over the three-month period by 0.7% and 0.8%, respectively, while the construction sector fell by 0.9%. The period also saw increases in the volume of net trade, household and government spending, although this was partly offset by falls in gross capital formation, the ONS noted. According to Hetal Mehta, head of economic research at St James’s Place, this…

In a stock exchange notice today (9 May), the trust explained the review involves a benchmarking process to bring any agreement alternations in line with “best practice” and deliver results to shareholders. The manager is currently entitled to an annual management fee, calculated quarterly in arrears based on a percentage of the group’s net asset value as of the end of each quarter – 31 March, 30 June, 30 September, and 31 December. Triple Point Social Housing eyes portfolio sales to resume share buybacks After publishing the half-year or full-year NAV, the manager then invests 25%…