Consistent ability drives stability
EMERGING MANAGER
WINNER
-Paradice Global Small Mid Cap Fund
FINALISTS
- CFS Worldwide Leaders Fund (First State Stewart)
- Presima Global Property Securities Concentrated Fund
- Carnegie Asset Management Worldwide Equity Trust
The ability to deep-dive and pick good stocks from an index and post solid annual returns far outweighs the ability to shoot the lights out every few years, according to Paradice Investment Management managing director David Paradice.
“We produce good returns by picking good stocks and not blowing up. We don’t aim for a 60 per cent return followed by a blow-up; rather we aim for 15-20 per cent and have been at it for the past four years,” Paradice said.
In that time the Paradice Global Small Mid Cap Fund, which secured the win for Paradice as Emerging Manager, has generated more than 18 per cent returns compared with market returns of 13 per cent.
“We run the business along the lines of choosing good people, not building big teams, and we are a big backer of individuals who do the analysis that comes with being an active manager - which is also a conservative stock picker.”
Shunning conventional market wisdom led to First State Stewart being nominated as a finalist for the CFS Worldwide Leaders Fund.
First State Stewart said the group regards benchmark indices as poor representations of potential investment universes and has applied an absolute return mind-set to all investment decisions.
“By adopting an absolute return mind-set we avoid the risk of being carried away by indiscriminate market euphoria and the risk to long-term client returns is significantly reduced.”
Presima chief executive Peter Zabierek said becoming a finalist for its work with the Presima Global Property Securities Concentrated Fund was a testament to its service and performance.
He said staying small and nimble while retaining the same core investment team since 2007 - and having the support of NAB - had enabled the fund to maintain its high-conviction, active share style which over 15 years has had more than 200 basis points of outperformance.
Long track records have also been a hallmark of Carnegie Asset Management and the fund which made it to the finals, Carnegie Worldwide Equity Trust, according to managing director Bo Knudsen.
Knudsen said a limited portfolio with a benchmark-agnostic investment model had led to an average 5 per cent outperformance for the past 10 years.
“We try to be as open and accessible as possible, even more in periods where you are not doing so well. Performance is key; close client relationships is the recipe for long duration clients.”
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