The fund management invests in high-quality companies that should be able to generate above average and sustainable earnings growth over a long period of time. The key selection criteria are high barriers to entry, end-markets with structural growth and excellent management teams.
Investment in global growth companies of all sizes
Further details on the opportunities and risks of this fund can be found in the sales prospectus.
Indexed performance
Performance in 12-month periods
Currencies
Sectors
Countries
Asset classes
Top Holdings
Monthly market comment
Global equity markets initially performed well in July thanks to a strong reporting season and solid macroeconomic data. More recently, however, the uncertainty surrounding the trade war and weak US labor market data weighed on sentiment. The Berenberg Global Focus Fund outperformed its benchmark. NVIDIA rose significantly, supported by continued interest in AI stocks, positive analyst comments, and the surprise lifting of export restrictions on H20 chips to China. AstraZeneca delivered a strong second quarter, with revenue and profit growth exceeding expectations. Tencent benefited from the announcement of a partnership with PayPal and other major companies to build a global digital wallet platform. This was offset by declines at ServiceNow, which fell despite solid quarterly figures in a weak environment for software stocks. Chemometec performed weaker despite raising its full-year forecast. The LSE Group lost significantly after its quarterly figures, which seemed excessive given market opinion. We took advantage of the setback in Clearwater Analytics shares to build an initial position. We also sold our stake in BYD.
Portfolio Management
Martin Hermann
Martin Hermann has been a Portfolio Manager at Berenberg since October 2017. He is responsible for the Berenberg Global Focus Fund and the global wealth management strategy “Equity Growth”, and serves as co-portfolio manager of the Berenberg European Focus Fund. Prior to joining Berenberg, he was a Portfolio Manager within Allianz Global Investors’ award-winning Europe Equity Growth Team and deputy portfolio manager of the International Equity Growth Fund. He began his career in 2010 as an investment trainee in the Graduate Programme at Allianz Global Investors. Martin Hermann holds a Master’s degree in Investment Analysis and Corporate Finance from the University of Vienna and is a CFA charterholder.
Martin Hermann
Portfolio Manager
Kay Eichhorn-Schott
Kay Eichhorn-Schott has been a Portfolio Manager at Berenberg since October 2017. Kay started his career in the Berenberg International Graduate Program in October 2015 and joined the Wealth and Asset Management division in London after completing the program. He holds a Master of Science in Finance and studied at EBS Business School, University of Bath and Texas A&M University. Kay Eichhorn-Schott is a CFA Charterholder.
Kay Eichhorn-Schott
Portfolio Manager
Matthias Born
Matthias Born has been CIO Equities since 2017 and Head of Investments of Wealth and Asset Management since 2019. He started his career in 2001 at Allianz Global Investors (AGI), where he managed portfolios for European Small Caps, European growth stocks and German equities from 2002 to 2017. In his 16 years at AGI, he has built two very successful equity franchises and was responsible for client assets in the double-digit billions. Matthias Born has an excellent track record over two decades and received several awards for his outstanding and consistent performance. He studied at the University of Wuerzburg and holds a degree in Business Administration.
Matthias Born
Head of Investments and CIO Equities
CO₂-Intensity
The CO₂ Intensity (Scope 1 & 2emissions) per company is multiplied by is portfolio weight (current value of the investment by current portfolio value) and summedup. This weighted average CO₂ Intensity provides an indication ofthe portfolio’s exposure to CO₂ emission intensive companies. The unit is in tons of CO₂ per USD 1 million revenues.
The fund does not actively manage its carbon footprint, however, emissions data such as CO2 intensity are relevant parameters which can be used to assess the efficient management of a company and the extent of transition risks.
ESG Score
Using a score between 0 (lowest) and 10 (highest), MSCI ESG assesses the ability of portfolio holdings to identify and manage environmental, social and governance-related risks compared to peers. The ESG scores are assigned at the holding level and are aggregated at the portfolio level as the weighted average ESG Score.
The data provider MSCI ESG uses an ESG score of 0 to 10 to assess the management of material ESG risks of portfolio holdings compared to competitors.
ESG Controversies Screen
MSCI ESG analyses controversial business practices from the five areas environment, human rights, labour rights & supply management, customers and governance. The controversies are rated according to their reputational risk as well as the operational handling by a flagging system. Green indicates no or weak controversies, yellow indicates moderate controversies, orange indicates severe controversies and red indicates very severe controversies.
Investments in the fund are monitored for ESG controversies and, with the help of MSCI ESG data, flagged according their severity. Thereby, potential ESG risks of investments are identified. In the case of an orange flag (severe controversy), we enter into an active exchange with the company. In the case of a red flag (very severe controversy), the company is excluded.