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GF European Smaller Companies Fund

Single Price €16.933 as of 07/11/2024
Fund launch date 01/02/2017
Fund size €8,135,213.35
Number of holdings 28

The Fund

The Fund has been managed since launch on 1 February 2017 by James Inglis-Jones and Samantha Gleave. The Fund aims to achieve long-term capital growth (at least 5 years) by investing primarily in European smaller companies, with the majority having a market capitalisation of less than €5 billion at inception.

You are able to redeem your investment from the Fund at any time and there is no exit fee for doing so.

Read latest fund update
Past performance does not predict future returns. You may get back less than you originally invested. Reference to specific securities is not intended as a recommendation to purchase or sell any investment.
Key Information
Manager Inception Date of Fund
15/02/2012
Managed by Current Team for
12 years
Class Launch Date
01/02/2017
ISIN code
IE00BYXLK632
Comparator Benchmark 1
MSCI Europe Small Cap

Awards and ratings

Citywire fund manager rating Citywire Manager Rating: AAA

Meet the team

James Inglis-Jones formed the Cashflow Solution team on joining Liontrust in March 2006 and was joined by Samantha Gleave in 2012. James and Samantha jointly manage the GF European Smaller Companies Fund having first worked together in 1998 and with an average industry experience of 25 years. James previously managed funds at Fleming Investment Management, JP Morgan Fleming and Polar Capital. Samantha began her career at Sutherlands and, among others, previously worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch where she won awards for Top Stock Pick and Earnings Estimates. 

Meet the tea

"In the world of investment, it seems we should beware the wisdom of crowds, especially when levels of investor anxiety are elevated."

Our Investment Process

The fund managers focus on the historic cash flows generated and invested by companies to support their forecast profits growth. As forecasts are often unreliable, the scale of cash invested to support forecasts is key.
The fund managers seek to own companies that generate significantly more cash than they need to sustain their planned growth yet are lowly valued by investors on that measure and are run by managers committed to an intelligent use of capital. 
To identify companies’ annual cash flow, balance sheet development and valuation efficiently across all equity markets the fund managers have developed a simple screen as a starting point for further qualitative analysis. The investment screen consists of two cash flow ratios that are combined equally to highlight the process characteristics that they seek.

The two cash flow measures are:

  • Cash flow relative to operating assets
  • Cash flow relative to market value
 

The strongest relative performance of the Fund can be during episodes of stock market inflection – the point at which markets move from a bull market to a bear market, or vice versa. During periods when share prices are driven by investor excitement around speculative growth stocks rather than cash flow fundamentals, the process may perform relatively less well.

Past performance does not predict future returns. You may get back less than you originally invested. Reference to specific securities is not intended as a recommendation to purchase or sell any investment.

Performance

Performance since manager inception date (%)

Discrete performance (%)

As at previous quarter 12 months ending: Sep 24 Sep 23 Sep 22 Sep 21 Sep 20
Liontrust GF European Smaller Companies 21.1 14.2 -20.7 59.1 -1.9
MSCI Europe Small Cap 20.3 14.0 -26.9 38.0 0.2

Cumulative performance (%)

As at previous day end 1 month 3 months 6 months YTD 1 year 3 years 5 years 10 years Since Inception
Liontrust GF European Smaller Companies -0.5 4.6 0.0 13.0 22.9 0.7 58.7 - 69.3
MSCI Europe Small Cap -0.9 2.6 0.9 6.3 19.6 -7.9 27.9 - 54.2

Source: FE fundinfo as at 08/11/2024. Performance figures are shown in EUR. Total return performance figures are calculated net of costs and charges, on a bid price to bid price basis (mid to mid for OEICs) with net income (dividends) reinvested. Where applicable the quartile rank is for the primary share class within the sector. If your investment is made in a currency other than that used in the past performance calculation the return may increase or decrease as a result of currency fluctuations.

Current positioning

Top 10 Holdings (%)

RINGKJOEBING LANDBOBANK
5.00
BPER BANCA S.P.A.
4.69
PANDORA A/S
4.68
SERCO GROUP PLC
4.62
BALFOUR BEATTY
4.52
KID ASA
4.33
BANKINTER (reg. shares)
4.03
FUGRO NV
3.93
4IMPRINT GROUP PLC
3.77
BUZZI SPA
3.75

Sector Breakdown (%)

Consumer Discretionary
22.12
Communications
19.13
Industrials
17.83
Financials
17.39
Materials
10.51
Information Technology
8.51
Money Market
2.27
Consumer Staples
2.19

Geographic Breakdown (%)

UK
34.56
Sweden
12.01
Denmark
9.69
Germany
9.02
Italy
8.44
Belgium
6.76
Norway
6.32
Spain
4.03
Netherlands
3.93
France
2.92
Cash & Cash Equivalents
2.27

Key features of the Fund

The investment objective of the Fund is to achieve long term capital growth by investing primarily in European smaller companies. The Fund may invest in all economic sectors in all parts of the world, although it is intended it will invest primarily in equities and equity related derivatives (i.e. total return swaps, futures and embedded derivatives) in European companies (including the UK and Switzerland). The majority of the assets of the Fund (more than 85%) are expected to be invested in smaller companies (with a market capitalisation of less than 5 billion euros at the time of the initial investment). In normal conditions, the Fund will aim to hold a diversified portfolio, although at times the Investment Adviser may decide to hold a more concentrated portfolio, and it is possible that a substantial portion of the Fund could be invested in cash or cash equivalents. The Fund may use FX forwards to hedge the Fund’s currency exposures. The Fund has both Hedged and Unhedged share classes available. The Hedged share classes use forward foreign exchange contracts to protect returns in the base currency of the Fund.
5 years or more.
5 (Please refer to the Fund PRIIP KID for further detail on how this is calculated)

Active.
The Fund is considered to be actively managed in reference to MSCI Europe Small -Cap Index net total return (the “Benchmark”) by virtue of the fact that it seeks to outperform the Benchmark. However the Benchmark is not used to define the portfolio composition of the Fund and the Fund may be wholly invested in securities which are not constituents of the Benchmark.
Additional Information
Minimum initial investment
€5,000,000
Minimum additional investment
€1,000
Ex-dividend date
1 January, 1 July
Distribution date
31 January, 31 July
Sedol code
BYXLK63
Charges
Initial charge
-
Ongoing Charges Figure
0.92%
Included within the OCF is the Annual Management Charge
0.75%

For more information on the OCF, see our costs and charges page.

Fund Manager Insights

See all related
Lionesses Samantha Gleave & James Inglis-Jones
A stock for every season Four of the Cashflow Solution team’s top stock picks
icon 4 June 2024
Cashflow
Lionesses Samantha Gleave & James Inglis-Jones
Celebrating a decade of secondary scores The Cashflow Solution team look back to the 2013 introduction of core analytical tools which have been instrumental in providing style flexibility
icon 4 March 2024
Analytics 2 456x456
Lionesses Samantha Gleave and James Inglis-Jones
European market outlook – positive but finely poised The Cashflow Solution team assess the prospects for European shares in 2024
icon 30 January 2024
Europe
James Inglis-Jones James Inglis-Jones
Sharp sell-off in growth stocks – a good thing? Over-aggressive company spending has dropped this year.
icon 5 June 2023
Traffic lights
Lionesses Multiple authors
Cashflow – the key takeaways James Inglis-Jones and Samantha Gleave talk through the cashflow solution process and the performance of their portfolios against the recent market environment.
icon 23 May 2023
Samantha Gleave

How to invest in Liontrust funds

Through a fund platform
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Direct with Liontrust

Key Risks 

Past performance does not predict future returns. You may get back less than you originally invested. Overseas investments may carry a higher currency risk. They are valued by reference to their local currency which may move up or down when compared to the currency of the Fund. This Fund may have a concentrated portfolio. If one of these investments or sectors / factors fall in value this can have a greater impact on the Fund's value than if it held a larger number of investments across a more diversified portfolio. As the Fund is primarily exposed to smaller companies there may be liquidity constraints from time to time, i.e. in certain circumstances, the fund may not be able to sell a position for full value or at all in the short term. This may affect performance and could cause the fund to defer or suspend redemptions of its shares. In addition the spread between the price you buy and sell units will reflect the less liquid nature of the underlying holdings. Outside of normal conditions, the Fund may hold higher levels of cash which may be deposited with several credit counterparties (e.g. international banks). A credit risk arises should one or more of these counterparties be unable to return the deposited cash. Counterparty Risk: any derivative contract, including FX hedging, may be at risk if the counterparty fails. ESG Risk: In reference to any component (where applicable) of a fund's investment process that uses external ESG data, there may be limitations to the availability, completeness or accuracy of ESG information from third-party providers, or inconsistencies in the consideration of ESG factors across different third party data providers, given the evolving nature of ESG.

 

Disclaimer

This is a marketing communication. Before making an investment, you should read the relevant Prospectus and the Key Investor Information Document (KIID) and/or PRIIP/KID, which provide full product details including investment charges and risks. It should not be construed as advice for investment in any product or security mentioned, an offer to buy or sell units/shares of Funds mentioned, or a solicitation to purchase securities in any company or investment product. The decision to invest in a fund should take into account all the characteristics and objectives of the fund (inclusive of sustainability features) as described in the prospectus. Further information can be found here: https://www.liontrust.eu/sfdr. Examples of stocks are provided for general information only to demonstrate our investment philosophy. The investment being promoted is for units in a fund, not directly in the underlying assets. This information and analysis is believed to be accurate at the time of publication, but is subject to change without notice. Whilst care has been taken in compiling the content, no representation or warranty is given, whether express or implied, by Liontrust as to its accuracy or completeness, including for external sources (which may have been used) which have not been verified.

Fund literature
GF European Smaller Companies Fund
View latest fund update
Factsheets Factsheet A3
Application and transfer forms Liontrust Global Funds plc Application Form