CAMRADATA Live activity: Corporate profits lift interest in global equities

Global equities were the second-most searched investment in UK and Europe, reports Mithursha Kesavan.

Asset class searches by institutional investors for the 12 months to August 31, 2021 have resulted in Global Equity being the second-most researched in the UK and in Europe too. It would appear that corporate profits continue to recover at an incredible pace this year. Industries who were worst hit are now starting to see a prompt recovery. This can be due to the extensive monetary and fiscal policy expansion taking place globally and the rapid rise in the rate of vaccinations.

There are over 950 global equity vehicles in CAMRADATA Live. Total activity by size was predominantly All Cap (69%) and by style the total activity was Core (38%). Hence, the universe Global Equity – Core All Cap (USD) has been of most interest to investors. Interestingly, the performance figures have ranged from 47.24% to -10.08% on a three-year annualised basis to June 30, 2021, highlighting the importance of manager selection.

One of the ways CAMRADATA demonstrates how well an asset manager has performed versus the risk that it has taken against the benchmark is by using its proprietary IQ scores. This is a ranking that reflects five statistical factors measured over a three-year period. The IQ universes are created from a set of criteria that vehicles must meet and must have performance returns for three years to date.

For the IQ universe Global Equity – Core All Cap (USD) over a three-year period to June 30, 2021 the best-performing manager was Aberdeen Standard Investments with its product Aberdeen Standard SICAV I – Global Innovation Equity Fund. This vehicle achieved an excess return of 17.76% over the benchmark whilst taking excess risk of 8.06%. For the one-year period to June 30, 2021, the best-performing manager was PineBridge Investments with its product PineBridge Global Focus Equity Composite. This vehicle achieved an excess return of 12.62% over the benchmark whilst taking excess risk of 4.43%.

The corporate gains seem to be very broad by geographical focus and industry. With equity funds continuing to be of interest and inflows globally seen to be stronger, the market seems hopeful that robust growth can occur in 2022.

Mithursha Kesavan is an associate at CAMRADATA, the owner of Funds Europe. *All figures are to 12 months to August 31, 2021 unless otherwise stated.