Lonsec recommends WCM global growth fund
Lonsec Research has announced it has granted a ‘recommended’ rating to the WCM Quality Global Growth Fund (WCMQ).
The portfolio was managed by California-based specialist global equity firm, WCM Investment Management, and distributed in Australia by Contango Asset Management via an unlisted managed fund, an exchange traded managed fund (WCMQ) and a listed investment company, all of which received Lonsec’s ‘recommended’ rating.
Lonsec praised WCM for its successful long-term track record of outperforming the benchmark with a lower risk.
“The underlying strategy has been running since March 2008 and has a history in outperforming its ACWI benchmark and providing good downside protection,” Lonsec wrote in its report.
WCMQ had approximately $73 million in funds under management (FUM), an increase of 66 per cent in the 10 months since its initial listing, it said.
Contango’s chief executive, Marty Switzer, said that WCM’s focused on investment targets with a growing competitive advantage coupled with a good corporate culture.
“It is not enough to invest in a company that has a huge competitive advantage. Investors also need to look for companies that have a competitive advantage that is growing. That’s the differentiator,” he said.
“For example, many investors around the world like Amazon, Facebook and Google because they have large competitive advantages, but WCM says it can’t make the case that their competitive advantages are expanding at the same rate and prefers companies such as Netflix and Shopify.”
The WCMQ strategy returned on average 14 per cent per year net of fees to 31 March, 2019 since inception in march, 2008, outperforming its benchmark by an annualised 5.6 per cent per annum, the firm said.
AUTHOR
Oksana Patron
Recommended for you
BlackRock has announced its plan to acquire real estate investment firm ElmTree Funds which will be integrated into its new private financing solutions business.
With share price growth of 45 per cent for FY25, Australian Ethical has shared why it believes the firm has done so well compared to its active peers.
ETF investors would be wise to consider global or European exposure for their equity ETF allocations, according to AXA IM, with US government action expected to hit both its equity and bond performance.
A specialist ETF provider is seeking to become “the new Betashares” with its active ETFs, thanks to its use of algorithms to achieve outperformance.
