24
Fund selector Global equity
Top ranked funds Assets under management
top 10 funds – 3-year risk and return
Return (%)
10
-10
-20
-30
CIF Global Equity Fund A €
-40
AB Global Equity Blend A $
1
2 3
4 5
Standard deviation (%)
24 Oct ’05 – 27 Oct ’07. Bid to bid, $, gross income, no cap
Source: Morningstar
0
Orbis Optimal (US$)
Russell World Equity Fund C
Templeton Growth
(EUR) A Acc €
top 10 funds by assets under management
24 oct ’05 – 27 oct ’08. Bid to bid, $, gross income, no cap. Source: Morningstar
The largest fund in the offshore
global equity sector
is the $8.1bn Orbis Global
Equity Fund.
The fund, which
launched in January 1990,
is benchmarked against the
FTSE World Index. As at
the end of October, 34%
of the fund was in US
equities, with 26% in
Japan, 16% in Asia ex
Japan, 15% in Europe and
5% in the UK.
Another Orbis fund,
Orbis Optimal also appears
in the table. Adopting an
absolute return approach
and using index hedging to
manage risk, it has an
even larger overweight to
Japan, with 27% equity
exposure.
Both funds, as is the
case with many Orbis
funds, are restricted in
terms of new investments.
l Track records
Although the concept of
global equity funds – cer-
Orbis Global Equity
Russell II
World Eq D
Carnegie Worldwide 1A $
Robeco NV
Sector
average
OMAM Glbl Med Risk I Acc
Fund selector’s choice
Jacqueline Aldhous, head of offshore research, Old Broad Street Research
In the largest fund category, Orbis Global Equity, managed by William Gray, is an attractive offering.
Orbis has built up an outstanding track record over the past few years across its strategies, helped by
its individual value-based process and superior bottom-up stock selection. Gray is assisted by the group’s
wealth of high quality global resources. While his typical value bias and early move into stocks he finds
compelling have not been rewarded very recently, he has high conviction in the extremely attractive
prospects for his stocks going forward, particularly in Japan, which has been a rich source of ideas
for some time.
We also like the Carnegie Worldwide Fund, which has been run by Mikael Randel since launch. The
manager’s theme-based approach and effective bottom-up stock selection, with a focus on valuation and
dividend yield, have delivered significant outperformance in both upward and downward trending markets
since launch. The manager successfully captured the emerging market and energy consumption themes
in 2006-07 and was timely in his move to a far more defensive stance in 2007-08 through significant
exposure to consumer staples and pharmaceuticals.
tainly for advisers – might
seem to some a relatively
new phenomenon, a
number of funds in this
table actually have extremely
long track records.
The CIF Global Equity
Fund launched in 1969,
while the $6.4bn Robeco
Fund, the second largest in
the sector, can trace its history
as far back as 1933
and claims to be Europe’s
oldest investment fund.
Managed by Netherlandsbased
Robeco Fund
Management, the fund is
benchmarked against the
MSCI World Index and has
a self-imposed tracking
error limit of 4%.
As at the end of
September, 48.7% of the
portfolio was in US equities,
with 35.6% in Europe
and 13% in the Far East. In
a fairly compelling advert
for long-term investment,
figures from Morningstar
show the fund has risen
more than 14,000% since
its inception.
Many of the largest
3-year 3-year 3-year 3-year 3-year 3-year M’star Fund Dom
% chg Alpha Beta R² Sharpe volatility Ratings size (£m)
orbis Global equity -11.72 -0.02 0.94 0.83 -0.07 3.92 HHHHH 4,228.4 Bermuda
robeco N.V -19.46 -0.19 1.21 0.94 -0.09 4.7 HHH 3,089.32 Neth’lands
Templeton Growth (eUr) a acc € -30.66 -0.35 0.95 0.95 -0.16 3.69 HHH 2,843.14 lux’bourg
orbis optimal (US$) 6.5 0.2 0.09 0.05 -0.13 1.56 HHH 2,591.35 Bermuda
aB Global equity Blend a $ -36.62 -0.56 1.23 0.98 -0.16 4.7 H 1,530.23 lux’bourg
CIF Global equity Fund a € -32.36 -0.52 1.12 0.95 -0.17 4.33 HH 1,495.24 lux’bourg
russell II world equity d -19.06 0 1.04 0.97 -0.06 3.98 HHHH 1,400.96 Ireland
russell world equity Fund C -21.57 -0.09 1.03 0.98 -0.08 3.93 HHHH 1,400.96 Ireland
oMaM GFF Global Med risk I acc -30.91 -0.18 1.11 0.83 -0.09 4.59 HHH 1,327.16 Bermuda
Carnegie worldwide 1a $ -8.94 0.37 1.13 0.79 0.03 4.79 HHHHH 1,266.55 lux’bourg
INTerNATIONAL ADVISer [www.international-adviser.com] December 2008
top 3 funds by auM vs index
%
60
40
20
-20
0
-40
Nov ’05 May ’06 Nov
May ’07 Nov
24 Oct ’05 – 27 Oct ’08. Source: Morningstar
Robeco NV
MSCI World Grs $
funds, unsurprisingly, are
run by some familiar names,
including Franklin Templeton,
Alliance Bernstein,
Russell Investments and
Old Mutual Asset
Management (OMAM).
The Templeton Growth
fund, managed from the
Bahamas by Cindy
Sweeting, has almost 40%
in US equities, with just
under 15% in the UK.
Franklin Templeton Investments
is one of the
world’s largest asset man-
Templeton Growth
(EUR) A Acc €
Orbis Global Equity
agement groups, with over
£285bn in assets under
management.
l Going halves
Alliance Bernstein’s AB
Global Equity Blend Fund
is split 50/50 between
value and growth equity
holdings. It is managed by
a team of five and has 47%
in US equities, with the
UK, at 10%, the next largest
single-country position.
OMAM GFF Global
Medium Risk is a fund of
funds which invests in six
underlying Old Mutual
equity funds, including
29% in the UK-domiciled
Global Equity Fund.
Carnegie Asset Management,
part of the Nordic
investment bank Carnegie,
might be a less well known
name. The Carnegie Worldwide
fund, managed by
Mikael Randel, is very
focused, with between 20
and 30 mostly large- and
mid-cap holdings.
The fund has an S&P
AAA rating.
May ’08
Nov
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