Building up our newer positions

The Fund returned +3.8% in June, outperforming the benchmark return of +3.6%.

Top Holdings (alphabetically)

Brenntag AG

Germany

Industrials

NICE Information Service

Korea, Republic Of

Industrials

Sendas Distribuidora SA

Brazil

Consumer Staples

Serco Group PLC

United Kingdom

Industrials

TFI INTERNATIONAL INC

Canada

Industrials

The Fund returned +3.8% in June, outperforming the benchmark return of +3.6%.

Global equity markets had yet another strong month as the year-long rally continued through June.  Equities rose as broad vaccination campaigns continued to accelerate in most developed economies.  Most major European markets were positive on the month as COVID-19 restrictions in the region were relaxed and vaccination distributions were on par with the UK and the US. Despite an uptick in COVID-19 cases linked to the delta variant, the continued reopening of economies in developed markets led to positive market returns. Regionally, US equities outperformed non-US equities and led all developed markets.  Investors discounted the notion of accelerating inflation and the Federal Reserve’s pivot on monetary policy during its most recent Federal Open Market Committee meeting.  A strong dollar helped propel US markets ahead of their developed market peers during the month.  Developed European markets were generally positive on the month driven by encouraging economic data and continued assurances from the European Central Bank of unwavering support. Asia markets struggled with the emergence of COVID-19 variants in Japan and India, along with weaker than expected economic figures in China. Emerging economies continued to lag on the vaccination front, hampering investor optimism in these countries. Despite that, emerging markets managed a small gain for the month but fell short of their developed markets counterparts.

Individual stock selection was the main driver of the Fund’s performance in June. Approximately 97 bps separated the top contributor and largest detractor.  As of 30^th June, the top 10 holdings accounted for approximately 29% of the Fund’s assets, with the largest position approximately 4.3% of the portfolio at the end of the month. Regional and sector exposure remained consistent month over month. The Fund continues to be overweight small to mid-cap names vs. the benchmark.

It was a relatively quiet trading month as cash was used to build up newer positions.  We continue to be very pleased with the current portfolio and excited about the potential opportunities we are seeing in markets.  During the month one new name was added to the Fund, Deliveroo.  Deliveroo is an online food delivery company based in London, England.  The Amazon-backed company IPO’ed with much fanfare in March.  Shares of the company sank as much as 30% during its IPO, marking it as one of the worst-performing IPO’s on the LSE in recent memory.  A challenging market environment, as well as concerns about regulatory changes that could affect how gig economy companies operate, were a catalyst to the broken IPO. However, such situations can create potentially good investment opportunities.  Deliveroo’s business is run by its founder, Will Shu.  He has aggressively built out a vertically integrated logistics solution which we think differentiates them from competitors.  While most have focused on restaurant takeaway, Deliveroo has positioned itself to grow in the convenience grocery channel as well.  We believe that this strategic positioning will be critical in becoming the “go-to” solution in a rapidly expanding market.  The online food delivery market is still nascent, and we will continue to watch the developments closely.