By Oksana Patron
Source: Money Management
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 Associate Global Partners 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.
DISCLAIMER: AGP Investment Management Limited (AGP IM) (ABN 26 123 611 978, AFSL 312247) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Associate Global Partners Limited (AGP) (ABN 56 080 277 998), a financial institution listed on the ASX (APL). AGP IM has prepared this material for general information purposes only for WCM Global Growth Limited, a listed investment company (ASX: WQG).
AGP IM is the responsible entity for WCM Quality Global Growth Fund (Quoted Managed Fund) (ARSN 625 955 240) (ASX: WCMQ) and WCM Quality Global Growth Fund (Managed Fund) (ARSN 630 062 047).
AGP International Management Pty Ltd (AIML) (ABN 33 617 319 123) is the investment manager for WQG and is an authorised representative of AGP IM. WCM Investment Management, LLC (WCM) is the underlying manager and applies its WCM Quality Global Growth Equity Strategy (the Strategy), excluding Australia, in managing each of WQG, WCMQ and WCM Quality Global Growth Fund (Managed Fund)(the Funds). WCM does not hold an AFSL. WQG and CIML are part of the AGP Group.
Any references to ‘We’, ‘Our’, ‘Us’, or the ‘Team’ used in the context of the portfolio commentary, is in reference to WCM Investment Management, as investment manager for the Strategy or CIML as investment manager for WQG.
Even though the Strategy, excluding Australia, is applied to each of WQG, WCMQ and WCM Quality Global Growth Fund (Managed Fund) certain factors including, but not limited to, differences in cash flows, fees, expenses, performance calculation methods, portfolio sizes and composition may result in variances between the investment returns for each portfolio. The performance of the Strategy is not the performance of the portfolios and is not an indication of how WQG, WCMQ and WCM Quality Global Growth Fund (Managed Fund) would have performed in the past or will perform in the future.
The material should not be viewed as a solicitation or offer of advice or services by WCM, AGP or AGP IM. It does not contain investment recommendations nor provide investment advice. It does not take into account the objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular individual. Investors should, before acting on this material, consider the appropriateness of the material.
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Any economic or market forecasts are not guaranteed. Any references to particular securities or sectors are for illustrative purposes only and are as at the date of publication of this material. This is not a recommendation in relation to any named securities or sectors and no warranty or guarantee is provided that the positions will remain within the portfolio of the funds. Any securities identified and described are for illustrative purposes only and do not represent all of the securities purchased, sold or recommended for client accounts. The reader should not assume that an investment in the securities identified was or will be profitable.
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Investors should read the Product Disclosure Statements (PDS) of the Funds or any relevant offer document in full before making a decision to invest in these products.