Global Select Equity Fund

Investment involves risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of current or future results and should not be the sole factor of consideration when selecting a product or strategy.

Strategy

Fund Summary

Actively managed and invests mainly in a high conviction portfolio (i.e. portfolio with a selection of fewer number of securities) of shares of companies anywhere in the world, including emerging markets.

Risks

The following risks are materially relevant to the fund. Please click here to view the definitions of the risks listed below.

• Currency
• Emerging markets
• Equities
• ESG
• Geographic concentration
• Investment fund
• Issuer concentration
• Management
• Market
• Operational
• Sector concentration
• Small/mid cap

Typical Investor

Investors who plan to invest for the medium to long term, and who:

• are interested in investment growth
• understand and can accept the risks of the fund, including the risks of investing in equities

31-Mar-2021 - Scott Berg, Portfolio Manager,

We participated in the initial public offering for Coupang, South Korea's largest e-commerce platform. We believe the company will grow much larger in South Korea over time as it continues to disrupt offline commerce by offering consumers faster delivery, more selections, and lower prices. The firm has heavily invested in logistics and technology, which has created a strong moat that makes its strategy difficult to follow by competitors. The company is also expanding into food delivery, which could be another driver of growth in the future.
We eliminated our position in Jollibee Foods, the dominant quick-service restaurant operator in the Philippines. This is a name we have owned in the portfolio for years as we like the company's exposure to the demographic growth trends in the region. However, the country is still struggling with pandemic-related headwinds, and with our outlook for the company more opaque, we chose to exit our position.
We continue to have a core position in Amazon.com. While many investors are debating how much further the stock has to run given its impressive performance in 2020, we still think the extraordinary long-run e-commerce trends that have been pulled forward by the pandemic, as well as the company's strong position in cloud computing via its Amazon Web Services, mean Amazon.com is still well positioned for growth over the long term.
Quidel is a manufacturer of diagnostic health care products and rapid diagnostic testing products. The company has benefited from strong demand for its rapid point-of-care coronavirus antigen diagnostics test, but the stock has recently suffered due to durability concerns following the rollout of several coronavirus vaccines. We initiated a position on weakness, as we believe that Quidel is poised to emerge from the pandemic with a higher earnings base. We also maintain a favorable view of the company's pipeline.
We started a position in Welltower, a real estate investment trust that works with senior housing operators, post-acute providers, and health systems to fund real estate and infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models. We believe Welltower could emerge from the pandemic stronger given its favorable liquidity profile and the likelihood for significantly increased demand for senior housing in the coming years. In addition, the company's recent purchases of distressed senior housing could add value over time.
We initiated a position in KE Holdings, the leading property online and offline brokerage platform in China. The company operates a disruptive platform called Agent Cooperation Network, which is similar to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) used by realtors in the U.S. KE Holdings is rapidly gaining market share and stands to benefit from strong growth in China's real estate market and the increased adoption of brokers for new home sales by property developers.
We eliminated our stake in Monolithic Power Systems, an analog semiconductor company focused on power management. This high-quality company, which has differentiated technology, high customer service, and good free cash flow generation, features diversity in product wins across multiple industries and a highly fragmented customer base. However, share prices have appreciated recently due to the company's strong relative performance, and we shifted the sale proceeds into names with less demanding valuations.
We eliminated our position in Temenos, which packages back-end software for banks. This is a name we have owned for some time, and with the stock spiking late in the period, we chose to exit our position in favor of names where we have stronger conviction.

31-Mar-2021 - Scott Berg, Portfolio Manager,

Shares of Brazilian payment processing company StoneCo fell amid the ongoing political and health crises in Brazil as most of the country was in lockdown by March. We continue to believe that StoneCo, which is attacking a huge market ripe for disruption, is in a good position to gain share. With a strong management team and proven execution, the company operates a highly service-oriented model and is introducing cutting-edge technology into Brazil's payments market. Moreover, longer term, we have conviction that StoneCo is poised to transform into a full-service, one-stop multichannel financial services platform for small and medium-sized businesses in Brazil.
Shares of Zalando, Europe's leading online apparel retailer, fell on news that Swedish investment firm Kinnevik would be selling its substantial stake in the company. The stock was also swept up in the broader factor rotation away from secular growth names that had been COVID-19 beneficiaries. Near the end of the period, Zalando reported strong earnings results and the stock rose, though not enough to offset losses experienced earlier in the quarter. We have high conviction in Zalando and believe it has a long runway for success given its substantial leads in terms of scale, distribution, brand relationships, technology, and operational efficiency. It has also been expanding into a third-party marketplace platform with its Partner Program, which is growing rapidly.
Private Indian bank Kotak Mahindra traded down over the period as rising COVID-19 cases in the region led to concerns about India's economic recovery. We think Kotak Mahindra Bank is one of the highest-quality banks in India led by a solid management team, with a strong underwriting culture and a transparent and disciplined loan mix.
Despite investments in e-commerce weighing on the bottom line, shares of Sea grinded higher thanks to better-than-expected guidance, particularly from its gaming division, as the company's "Free Fire" title continues to accumulate users, while strong execution is driving improving profitability. We believe Sea's platform is well positioned to gain share in Southeast Asia's high-margin online gaming market, with additional growth supported by an underappreciated consumer-to-consumer e-commerce marketplace with improving monetization trends.

Disclosure on Vendor Indices can be found here.