Monthly Report - June

1. Global markets fell in June as inflation reached a 40-year high in both the US and Europe.
2. Amid strong style headwinds and economic uncertainty, we continue to find opportunities to purchase high-quality, growing businesses.
3. The Portfolio’s overweight in Health Care was a contributor to relative returns as Health Care stocks significantly outperformed the broad index.

The Fund fell -4.0% in June, outperforming the Index (MSCI All Country World Total Return Index (net) in $A) which fell -4.5% for the same period.

Top Holdings (alphabetically)

Alphabet Inc

United States

Communication Services

Alphabet Inc. operates as a holding company. The Company, through its subsidiaries, provides web-based search, advertisements, maps, software applications, mobile operating systems, consumer content, enterprise solutions, commerce, and hardware products.

Amazon

United States

Consumer Discretionary

Amazon.com, Inc. is an online retailer that offers a wide range of products. The Company products include books, music, computers, electronics and numerous other products. Amazon offers personalized shopping services, Web-based credit card payment, and direct shipping to customers. Amazon also operates a cloud platform offering services globally.

Deere & Co

United States

Industrials

Deere & Company manufactures and distributes a range of agricultural, construction, forestry, and commercial and consumer equipment. The Company supplies replacement parts for its own products and for those of other manufacturers. Deere also provides product and parts financing services. Deere and Company extends its services and products worldwide.

First Republic Bank

United States

Financials

First Republic Bank and its subsidiaries provide private banking, private business banking and private wealth management in urban, coastal markets in the U.S. First Republic delivers relationship-based service by providing a single point of contact for all of its services.

L'Oreal SA

France

Consumer Staples

L'Oreal manufactures cosmetics. The Company offers mascara, lip gloss, foundation, eyeshadow, primer, nail polish, lipstick, face powder, blusher, and concealer, as well as skin, hair, and body care products. L'Oreal serves customers worldwide.

Microsoft

United States

Information Technology

Microsoft Corporation develops, manufactures, licenses, sells, and supports software products. The Company offers operating system software, server application software, business and consumer applications software, software development tools, and Internet and intranet software. Microsoft also develops video game consoles and digital music entertainment devices.

Schneider Electric SE

France

Industrials

Schneider Electric SE manufactures electrical power products. The Company offers car chargers, home security goods, light switches, access control, sensors, valves, circuit breakers, cables, accessories, signaling devices, fuse, motor starters, and voltage transformers. Schneider Electric serves customers worldwide.

SVB Financial Group

United States

Financials

SVB Financial Group is the holding company for Silicon Valley Bank. The Bank is a commercial bank that serves emerging growth and middle-market growth companies in targeted niches, focusing on the technology and life sciences industries. Silicon Valley operates offices throughout the Silicon Valley and other areas of California, as well as in other states.

UnitedHealth Group Inc

United States

Health Care

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated owns and manages organized health systems. The Company provides employers products and resources to plan and administer employee benefit programs. UnitedHealth serves customers in the United States.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc

United States

Health Care

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated discovers, develops, and commercializes pharmaceutical products. The Company develops drugs for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, cancer, inflammatory bowel, autoimmune disease, and neurological disorders. Vertex Pharmaceuticals serves healthcare sector worldwide.

Market Review

Global markets fell in June as inflation reached a 40-year high in both the US and Europe. In response, policymakers outlined aggressive rate hikes, putting further pressure on equities. In the US, the Federal Reserve raised rates by 75 basis points—the largest increase in nearly 30 years—and signalled further rate increases of a similar magnitude. Similarly, the European Central Bank signalled that it would deliver its first rate hike since 2011 in July.

Energy prices continued to be the largest driver of inflation in Europe as Russia took further steps to further choke off supply; the Nordsteam pipeline is now operating at 40% capacity due to a “gas turbine issue”. Further exacerbating the situation, a prolonged outage at the Freeport LNG plant in Texas has significantly reduced the US supply of liquified natural gas to the continent. Elsewhere, China was the only positive market this month as the country began to emerge from its COVID-induced lockdowns and central bank officials cut interest rates and injected a fresh round of stimulus into the economy.

Portfolio Comments

Amid strong style headwinds and economic uncertainty, we continue to find opportunities to purchase high-quality, growing businesses. Kering is a French luxury good conglomerate that is in the process of diversifying away from an outsized reliance on the Gucci brand. Management has historically delivered an impressive track record of innovation and growth, resulting in a company that is profitable, generates a high free cash flow, and is rapidly moving toward a net cash balance sheet. Poor sentiment due to weak consumer demand in China (one of Kering’s largest markets) has been an overhang on the stock for much of 2022; however, this provided us with an opportunity to purchase shares at an attractive valuation.

June Attribution

• In Health Care, shares of Chinese biologics service provider WuXi Biologics soared as US export authorities were allowed to inspect one of the company’s Chinese facilities, raising prospects that WuXi may soon be removed from the US trade blacklist.
• The Portfolio’s overweight in Health Care was a contributor to relative returns. Health Care stocks significantly outperformed the broad index despite posting negative returns for the month.
• In Industrials, shares of US agricultural equipment manufacturer John Deere underperformed as farmers faced weakening economics (due to higher input costs like fertilizer) and higher financing costs for large farm equipment (due to rising interest rates).

High-quality, fast-growing companies, have significantly underperformed year-to-date. The severity of these style headwinds has contributed to Portfolio underperformance across all major sectors and regions. In our view however, the Global Equity Portfolio is loaded with high-quality global growth companies trading at increasingly attractive valuations. On balance, our companies continue to report strong results and, without exception, continue to invest through uncertain times from positions of financial strength. For the most part, the weakness in stock prices is a function of transient or cyclical pressures affecting short-term results and not a result of cracks in their fundamentals.