Specialist active equity investor Majedie Asset Management’s (Majedie) US Equity Fund has marked its seventh anniversary with returns ranking in the top decile of its Morningstar category over one and three years to 30 June 2021, and in the top quartile since inception.
During a three-year period featuring sharp sector rotations and heightened market volatility, the Fund has achieved a cumulative total return of 74 per cent net of fees (Z share class, USD), compared to the S&P 500 Net Index return of 64 per cent.
The Fund, launched in June 2014, invests in a diversified portfolio of primarily US equities and is currently rated four stars by fund tracker Morningstar Inc. It is a concentrated, high-conviction US equity portfolio, managed by Adrian Brass, with Hong Yi Chen and James Dudgeon as co-managers. Adrian also manages the Majedie Global Equity and Global Focus funds, alongside Tom Record and Tom Morris.
The Fund is, subject to regulatory and shareholder approval, transitioning to Article 8 under the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). Article 8 Funds are classified as those which actively promote environmental or social character which is subject to higher standards of disclosure under the SFDR. Majedie has taken a thoughtful and considered approach to how it has classified the Fund, in keeping with its longstanding Responsible Capitalism ethos.
Adrian Brass, manager of the US Equity Fund, says: “It’s a strong endorsement of our process to have delivered top quartile performance since inception, and also speaks to the strength of the wider Majedie investment team. With a versatile approach that invests across the style and size spectrum, we are particularly excited by the current levels of valuation dispersion within US equities. Valuations may look high at the aggregate market level, but valuation distortions beneath the surface have created an extremely fertile stock-picking backdrop for a high conviction fund such as ours. We have recently reduced exposure to stocks which have recovered strongly from normalisation post Covid, and are now shifting into companies offering undervalued growth, under-appreciated transformations, or powerful internal catalysts such as hidden business gems.”
