Change to the Fund’s Investment Manager

19 March 2018

Changes to the BT Wholesale European Share Fund (APIR: BTA0124AU, ARSN: 087 594 429) – Important Information

What is the change?

Following a review, J O Hambro Capital Management Limited (JOHCM) will replace MFS International (U.K.) Limited (MFS) as the investment manager of the Fund. This change will take place on or around 23 April 2018.

The Fund will continue to be an actively managed portfolio of European shares investing in companies listed in countries within the MSCI Europe (Standard) Index and opportunistically in companies domiciled outside Europe, from time to time.

Whilst both MFS and JOHCM utilise a bottom up, fundamental stock selection process with a focus on value and high quality businesses, JOHCM adopts a more active approach to portfolio construction.  JOHCM’s investment process for European shares is a high conviction, contrarian approach that seeks to identify companies they believe to be undervalued in the near term but offer long term capital growth.

The JOHCM strategy is also benchmark agnostic, meaning that the benchmark’s weights are not used as a reference point during portfolio construction. With JOHCM’s investment approach being less constrained by the benchmark than MFS, they are able to focus on risk-adjusted returns rather than benchmark relative returns. As a result, JOHCM will build a more concentrated portfolio (typically between 20-25 stocks) reflecting their best investment ideas.

Why do we think the change in manager will be a better outcome for investors?

We believe that JOHCM’s more active and benchmark agnostic approach to portfolio construction will deliver an improved investment outcome to investors compared to the more benchmark aware approach of MFS.

 

What will be staying the same?  

The Fund’s investment return objective will stay the same: ‘The Fund aims to provide a return (before fees, costs and taxes) that exceeds the MSCI Europe (Standard) Index (Net Dividends) in AUD over the medium to long term.’ 

We believe it is important for investors to be able to continue to measure and compare the Fund’s performance against the market even though the JOHCM strategy is benchmark agnostic.

There will also be no changes to the Fund’s management costs of 1.00% pa and buy-sell spread of 0.30%.

About J O Hambro Capital Management Limited 

JOHCM is a boutique investment firm with investment offices in London, Singapore, New York and Boston and is a wholly owned subsidiary of BT Investment Management Limited.

JOHCM actively manages a range of different global and regional equity investment strategies. As at 31 December 2017, JOHCM has £31.3bn of assets under management across 23 equities strategies covering UK, US, Europe, Japan, Asia ex Japan, global and emerging markets. Over 85% of JOHCM’s strategies are currently ranked within the top quartile of their respective industry peer groups.

A letter has been sent to existing investors and advisers, with clients invested in the Fund, providing additional information regarding the change of investment manager.

This article has been prepared by Pendal Fund Services Limited (PFSL) ABN 13 161 249 332, AFSL No 431426 and the information contained within is current as at March 19, 2018. It is not to be published, or otherwise made available to any person other than the party to whom it is provided.

PFSL is the responsible entity and issuer of units in the BT Wholesale European Share Fund (Fund) ARSN: 087 594 429. A product disclosure statement (PDS) is available for the Fund and can be obtained by calling 1300 346 821 or visiting www.pendalgroup.com. You should obtain and consider the PDS before deciding whether to acquire, continue to hold or dispose of units in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is subject to investment risk, including possible delays in repayment of withdrawal proceeds and loss of income and principal invested.

This article is for general information purposes only, should not be considered as a comprehensive statement on any matter and should not be relied upon as such. It has been prepared without taking into account any recipient’s personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Because of this, recipients should, before acting on this information, consider its appropriateness having regard to their individual objectives, financial situation and needs. This information is not to be regarded as a securities recommendation.

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