Our Strategies:
Factsheets & Document Library
Europe Equity
This all-cap strategy comprises 25-35 exceptional European companies that we expect to grow over the long-term, delivering attractive total shareholder returns. Our belief is that persistence matters more than speed – we only focus on durable franchises. In our fundamental company research, we look for three key criteria: defendability, repeatability and scalability. The resulting portfolio is concentrated, with low turnover and high active share.
Commentary disclaimer:
The views expressed in this document are valid at the time of publication only, do not constitute independent investment research and should not be interpreted as investment advice. Data source: Aecus Partners, LSEG Workspace, MSCI. The reference to specific companies does not constitute a recommendation to invest directly in these securities. Allocation is subject to change without notice. Past performance does not predict future returns.
30 JUNE 2025
Fund Launch: opening remarks
The Aecus Europe fund was launched on June 30, 2025. We have built a portfolio of 30 European leading franchises that we believe will deliver strong earnings growth over our 5+ year investment horizon whilst demonstrating financial resilience in the face of macroeconomic challenges. The portfolio has diverse exposure to unique businesses and drivers of return, many operating with a global revenue footprint. As a result of our style and bottom-up security selection, the portfolio tends to have more exposure in the health care, technology and consumer-related industries. The fund addresses an all-cap opportunity set and was launched with over a third of the portfolio invested in small and mid-size companies (€1bn-€20bn market capitalisation range).
Our experience, and belief, is that there are few companies capable of defying the laws of economic gravity by maintaining higher-than-average earnings growth for very long periods, sometimes multiple decades. With this portfolio, we strive to benefit from the long-term compounding effect of persistent earnings growth. In our selection process at Aecus, we look for three key criteria.
- Firstly, we look for Defendable and resilient franchises. They tend to be market leaders owning perpetual assets that are hard to replicate. Their end markets are typically well-established and are unlikely to be displaced. These businesses can leverage their competitive advantages, creating concentrated market structures.
- Secondly, we look for businesses with long track records of Repeatable value creation. We like “copy-paste” growth models where the future success does not depend on any single innovation or new market entry, but rather the steady execution of an existing, proven, strategy.
- Finally, we seek out businesses with a deep and Scalable opportunity to grow. This scale can derive from large and growing end markets and/or a company’s ability to increase its market share in a sustainable manner.
This “DRS” (defendable, repeatable, scalable) framework guides our research and decision-making process.
The Aecus Europe Equity portfolio exhibits superior quality and growth characteristics compared to the broader European market. At launch, the weighted average of the portfolio exhibited around 4% higher EPS growth (next 3Y), 7% higher operating (EBIT 2024) margins, 14% higher ROIC (2024) and superior cash conversion when compared to the MSCI Europe Index. We are careful not to overpay for this quality. The average Free Cash Flow yield for the portfolio is around 4%, comfortably above long-term government bond rates in Europe. We have high conviction that we own some of the most outstanding and durable companies in Europe.
We will be providing regular portfolio commentaries on our website and once a quarter we will review portfolio performance in more detail. We thank you for your interest in following the development of this fund.
Continental Europe Equity
This all-cap strategy comprises 25-35 exceptional Continental European companies that we expect to grow over the long-term, delivering attractive total shareholder returns. Our belief is that persistence matters more than speed – we only focus on durable franchises. In our fundamental company research, we look for three key criteria: defendability, repeatability and scalability. The resulting portfolio is concentrated, with low turnover and high active share.
Commentary disclaimer:
The views expressed in this document are valid at the time of publication only, do not constitute independent investment research and should not be interpreted as investment advice. Data source: Aecus Partners, LSEG Workspace, MSCI. The reference to specific companies does not constitute a recommendation to invest directly in these securities. Allocation is subject to change without notice. Past performance does not predict future returns.
30 JUNE 2025
Fund Launch: opening remarks
The Aecus Continental Europe fund was launched on June 30, 2025. We have built a portfolio of 27 European leading franchises that we believe will deliver strong earnings growth over our 5+ year investment horizon whilst demonstrating financial resilience in the face of macroeconomic challenges. The portfolio has diverse exposure to unique businesses and drivers of return, many operating with a global revenue footprint. As a result of our style and bottom-up security selection, the portfolio tends to have more exposure in the health care, technology and consumer-related industries. The fund addresses an all-cap opportunity set and was launched with around a third of the portfolio invested in small and mid-size companies (€1bn-€20bn market capitalisation range).
Our experience, and belief, is that there are few companies capable of defying the laws of economic gravity by maintaining higher-than-average earnings growth for very long periods, sometimes multiple decades. With this portfolio, we strive to benefit from the long-term compounding effect of persistent earnings growth. In our selection process at Aecus, we look for three key criteria.
- Firstly, we look for Defendable and resilient franchises. They tend to be market leaders owning perpetual assets that are hard to replicate. Their end markets are typically well-established and are unlikely to be displaced. These businesses can leverage their competitive advantages, creating concentrated market structures.
- Secondly, we look for businesses with long track records of Repeatable value creation. We like “copy-paste” growth models where the future success does not depend on any single innovation or new market entry, but rather the steady execution of an existing, proven, strategy.
- Finally, we seek out businesses with a deep and Scalable opportunity to grow. This scale can derive from large and growing end markets and/or a company’s ability to increase its market share in a sustainable manner.
This “DRS” (defendable, repeatable, scalable) framework guides our research and decision-making process.
The Aecus Continental Europe Equity portfolio exhibits superior quality and growth characteristics compared to the broader European market. At launch, the weighted average of the portfolio exhibited around 5% higher EPS growth (next 3Y), 6% higher operating (EBIT 2024) margins, 12% higher ROIC (2024) and superior cash conversion when compared to the MSCI Europe ex UK Index. We are careful not to overpay for this quality. The average Free Cash Flow yield for the portfolio is around 4%, comfortably above long-term government bond rates in Europe. We have high conviction that we own some of the most outstanding and durable companies in Europe.
We will be providing regular portfolio commentaries on our website and once a quarter we will review portfolio performance in more detail. We thank you for your interest in following the development of this fund.
Global Equity
This all-cap strategy comprises 30-40 exceptional Global companies that we expect to grow over the long-term, delivering attractive total shareholder returns. This all-country portfolio can invest in both developed and emerging market companies. Our belief is that persistence matters more than speed – we only focus on durable franchises. In our fundamental company research, we look for three key criteria: defendability, repeatability and scalability. The resulting portfolio is concentrated, with low turnover and high active share.
Commentary disclaimer:
The views expressed in this document are valid at the time of publication only, do not constitute independent investment research and should not be interpreted as investment advice. Data source: Aecus Partners, LSEG Workspace, MSCI. The reference to specific companies does not constitute a recommendation to invest directly in these securities. Allocation is subject to change without notice. Past performance does not predict future returns.
23 JUNE 2025
Fund Launch: opening remarks
The Aecus Global Equity Fund was launched on June 23, 2025. We have built a portfolio of 36 leading franchises that we believe will deliver strong earnings growth over our 5+ year investment horizon whilst demonstrating financial resilience in the face of macroeconomic challenges. The portfolio has diverse exposure to unique businesses and drivers of return, many operating with a global revenue footprint. As a result of our style and bottom-up security selection, the portfolio tends to have more exposure in the health care, industrials and consumer-related industries. The fund is all-cap in nature and was launched with circa 25% exposure to small and mid-size companies ($1-$20bn market capitalisation range).
We have strong conviction that our portfolio companies will deliver durable returns for our clients. This derives from the belief that the best way to deliver consistent long-term returns is through investing in quality businesses with a reliable track record and attractive growth outlook. In our selection process at Aecus, we look for three key criteria:
- Firstly, we look for Defendable and resilient franchises. They tend to be market leaders owning perpetual assets that are hard to replicate. Their end markets are typically well-established and are unlikely to be displaced. These businesses can leverage their competitive advantages creating consolidated market structures.
- Secondly, we look for businesses with long track records of Repeatable value creation. This means companies that have consistently deployed capital at high returns to drive organic growth well ahead of their peers through economic cycles.
- Finally, we seek out businesses with a deep and Scalable opportunity to grow. This scale can derive from large and growing end markets and/or a company’s ability to increasing its market share in a sustainable manner.
The result is a portfolio of companies with high incremental margins, rising labour productivity, low capital intensity and strong cash generation. This “DRS” (defendable, repeatable, scalable) framework guides our research and decision-making process.
The Aecus Global Equity Fund portfolio exhibits superior quality and growth characteristics compared to the broader global market. At launch, the weighted average of portfolio companies exhibited approximately 4% higher EPS growth (next 3Y), 17% higher operating (EBIT 2024) margins, 11% higher free cash flow margin (NTM), and 15% higher ROIC (2024) than the MSCI All Country World Index. We are careful to not overpay for this quality. The average Free Cash Flow yield for the portfolio is 3.4%, more than 140bps ahead of the yield on the 10-year treasury inflation protected securities (TIPS). We have high conviction that we own some of the most outstanding and durable companies in the world.
We will be providing regular portfolio commentaries on our website and once a quarter we will review portfolio performance in more detail. We thank you for your interest in the fund.
Policies & Regulatory Documents
Other general policies are available upon request.