Highlights:
- Our approach faced a headwind as smaller cap, lesser quality and more economically sensitive stocks outperformed on rising expectations for a strong economic recovery
- The portfolio trailed the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index with residual sector weights and stock selection detracting from relative returns
- The portfolio’s overweights in the weakly performing Consumer Staples and Health Care sectors presented a headwind for performance, as did the lack of any exposure to the strongly performing Energy sector; stock selection in the Consumer Discretionary and Financial sectors hurt relative returns offsetting strong selection in the Consumer Staples and Health Care sectors
- A new position in Recruit was initiated during the quarter, no positions were liquidated
- We added to positions in CP All, New Oriental Education and Novo Nordisk among others while trimming positions in Linde, Adyen, Fast Retailing and others on strength
The opinions expressed herein reflect the opinions of Sustainable Growth Advisers, LP and are subject to change without notice. Past performance is no guarantee for future results. This information is supplemental and complements a full disclosure presentation that can be found with composite performance. The securities referenced in the article are not a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities. This commentary is provided only for qualified and sophisticated institutional investors.
Results are presented gross and net of management fees and include the reinvestment of all income. The Net Returns are calculated based upon the highest published fees. The net performance has been reduced by the amount of the highest published fee that may be charged to SGA clients, 0.85%, employing the International Growth equity strategy during the period under consideration. Actual fees charged to clients may vary depending on, among other things, the applicable fees schedule and portfolio size. SGA’s fees are available upon request and also may be found in Part 2A of its Form ADV. Policies for valuing portfolios, calculating performance, and preparing compliant presentations are available upon request. Upon request, free of charge, SGA can provide a list of all portfolio holdings held in SGA’s International portfolio for the past twelve months. Past performance is not indicative of future results. SGA’s earnings growth forecast data is based upon portfolio companies’ Non-GAAP operating earnings.