SUMMARY
During August 2021, the Pengana Axiom International Ethical Fund (Hedged) (“Fund”) delivered 4.4% to investors. The Fund’s benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index (“Index”), in AUD terms, delivered 2.6%.1
Increased appreciation in the market for the duration of vaccine sales tailwinds.
PORTFOLIO
Top Holdings (alphabetically)
Adobe Inc
United States
Information Technology
Alphabet Inc
United States
Communication Services
Amazon
United States
Consumer Discretionary
Asml Holdings
Netherlands
Information Technology
Danaher
United States
Health Care
Facebook Inc
United States
Communication Services
Generac Holdings Inc
United States
Industrials
Microsoft
United States
Information Technology
Moderna Inc
United States
Health Care
ServiceNow Inc
United States
Information Technology
Sector Breakdown
Capitalisation Breakdown
Region Breakdown
PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE SINCE STRATEGY INCEPTION
NET PERFORMANCE FOR PERIODS ENDING 31 Aug 20217
PERFORMANCE SINCE STRATEGY INCEPTION
NET PERFORMANCE SINCE INCEPTION7
COMMENTARY
During August 2021, the Pengana Axiom International Ethical Fund (Hedged) (“Fund”) delivered 4.4% to investors. The Fund’s benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index (“Index”), in AUD terms, delivered 2.6%.1
The Fund outperformed in August due largely to security selection in the areas of information technology, health care and communication services. Moderna and Danaher continued to be top five performers due to an increased appreciation in the market of the duration of the vaccine sales tailwinds. Countries have been locking in COVID vaccine capacities for 2022 and beyond, with added potential sales from headlines of booster shots for immuno-compromised individuals and mixed COVID/flu shot trials underway. Both stocks remain as top ten positions for the Fund. Other strong performers included Adyen and Sea, as both benefitted from the e-commerce tailwinds of delayed reopening in their respective regions of operations due to a pick up in cases of the delta variant of COVID. Consumer discretionary and financials were the largest detractors from performance. American Eagle was the top detractor as peer results in retail highlighted a challenging operating environment related to logistics for the industry. The company did end up reporting a miss to revenue growth expectations as they strategically accumulated autumn back to school merchandise to capitalize on sales in their most important period, while sacrificing some summer sales. Given the strong set-up for the coming periods, the Fund continues to maintain its position in the company.
The Fund continues to overweight information technology, consumer discretionary and communication services, and underweight financials, materials, and consumer staples. In August, we added capital to information technology and reduced health care and consumer discretionary. The Fund initiated a new position in B2 rated information services company Gartner which provides research and analysis on hardware, software, communications, and other information technology verticals. The company helps over 15,000 client organization in over 100 countries make informed decisions on information technology products through their competitive analysis reports, industry overviews, market trend data and product evaluation reports. The business is experiencing accelerated growth rates as companies speed up their digital transformation during COVID requiring Gartner to help navigate suitable products to address needs. Additionally, the events business is likely to see more durability in margins as the predominant format for events for the rest of the year is likely to be virtual (rather than in-person) — limiting costs. Positive historic earnings revisions, durable/profitable growth, and average valuation all support ownership. Finally, we sold the position in Global Payments on delayed recovery as a result of COVID case increases.
PROFILE
Platform Availability
- Asgard eWrap
- BT Investment Wrap
- BT Panorama
- BT Superwrap
- Colonial First Wrap -IDPS
- Centric IDPS
- Hub24
- IOOF Grow Wrap
- Macquarie Wrap -IDPS
- Macquarie Wrap -Super
- Mason Stevens – IDPS
- Mason Stevens – Super (Hedged)
- Netwealth
- Powerwrap
STATISTICAL DATA3
PORTFOLIO SUMMARY
VOLATILITY8
8.6%
NUMBER OF STOCKS
49
BETA9
0.74
FEATURES
- APIR CODE HHA0002AU
- REDEMPTION PRICEA$ 3.1969
- FEES * Management Fee: 1.35% p.a
- Minimum initial investment $10,000
- FUM AT MONTH END A$ 67.69m
- STRATEGY INCEPTION DATE 1 July 2004
- BenchmarkMSCI All Country World Total Return in AUD (Hedged)
Fund Managers
Bradley Amoils
Managing Director/Portfolio Manager
Andrew Jacobson
CEO/Chief Investment Officer
Description
The Pengana Axiom International Fund (Hedged) invests in companies that are dynamically growing and changing for the better, more rapidly than generally expected and where the positive changes are not yet reflected in expectations or valuation.
The Global Equity Strategy seeks dynamic growth by concentrating its investments in global developed markets, and may also invest in companies located in emerging markets.
The investment manager is Axiom Investors, a Connecticut-based global equity fund manager formed in 1998 with over US$19billion in assets under Management.
EXPLORE OUR FUNDS
1. From 4 June 2021 the capital component of the foreign currency exposure for the Fund is hedged back to Australian dollars.
2. Axiom was appointed fund manager as of 5 May 2021. June 2021 represents the first full month of Axiom managing the Fund.
3. Inception date 1 July 2017. Figures shown are calculated from the continuous performance of both the current and previous strategies. For performance see row labelled Fund: APIR (HHA0002AU) in the table above which is the continuous performance of both the current and previous strategies.
4. Axiom Global Equity Strategy inception 1 Jul 2004.
5. Prior to 1 June 2021, the Axiom Global Equity Strategy performance (labeled ‘Current Strategy (Partial Simulation)’ and shown in the shaded area) includes the strategy performance simulated by Pengana from the monthly gross USD returns of the Axiom Global Equity strategy. The Axiom Global Equity Strategy performance does not include the Pengana ethical screen
6. Prior to 4 June 2021 hedged performance has been simulated by Pengana for both the Fund and Index. This was done by: 1) using 3 month rolling forwards to hedge movements in the AUD/USD spot rate, and 2) deducting the Pengana International Ethical Fund (Hedged) management fee of 1.35% p.a. from the Fund’s performance.
From 4 June 2021, index performance is from the MSCI All Country World Total Return in AUD (Hedged). Prior to 4 June 2021, index performance is simulated from the MSCI All Country World Total Return in USD
7. Performance for periods greater than 12 months are annualised. Net performance figures are shown after all fees and expenses, and assume reinvestment of distributions. No allowance has been made for buy/sell spreads. Please refer to the PDS for information regarding risks. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance, the value of investments can go up and down.
8. Annualised standard deviation since inception.
9. Relative to the MSCI All Country World Total Return in AUD (Hedged).
*For further information regarding fees please see the PDS available on our website.