Von Comgest

• Japan Equities becomes fifth Comgest strategy with AUM of over €1bn
• Europe Opportunities is the sixth strategy to exceed €500m of AUM
• Comgest Growth Global Flex delivers best relative fund performance (+12.5%)
• Comgest Growth America delivers best absolute fund performance (+6.6%¹)
• Comgest receives fifth consecutive A+ rating from the UN PRI

2018 MARKED THE BEST YEAR FOR DIVERSIFICATION OF FUND FLOWS

The Comgest Group recorded its best year in terms of diversification of fund flows in 2018. Last year marked a breakthrough for both its Japan and Europe Opportunities strategies with the Japan strategy boasting assets of more than €1.3bn – an increase of over €500m since the end of 2017. Likewise, the Europe Opportunities strategy now sits at more than €800m -- reinforcing it as the “third pillar” of Comgest’s European product range.

Overall, net inflows for the Group amounted to more than €800m in 2018, with a total of €25.7bn assets under management as of end December 2018. 


2018 PERFORMANCE: KEEPING CALM AND STAYING THE COURSE

Despite being one of the most challenging and volatile years for equity managers in a decade, Comgest’s US, Europe, Japan and Global strategies all outperformed their comparative indices by around 7%-10% in 2018. Amid the year’s instability, the Comgest Growth Global Flex fund proved valuable in limiting drawdowns, delivering Comgest’s best relative performance (+12.5%²), while the Comgest Growth America fund delivered the best absolute performance of the range (+6.6%).

Despite the challenges posed by the emerging markets (EM) environment, Comgest is confident that the risk-reward for quality growth stocks in EM remains attractive, with lower valuations and stable earnings growth power. The current period marks only the second time since 1995 where quality stocks have underperformed in a declining market.

Arnaud Cosserat, CEO of Comgest, said: “Our long-term investment strategy, which is based on our conviction of selecting high-quality stocks, has enabled us to weather the choppy and volatile market conditions last year and we have continued to benefit from our hard work and in-depth insight. In particular, it was great to see a number of our strategies, such as the Comgest Growth Japan and Comgest Growth Europe Opportunities funds, attract significant investment in 2018, testament to the performance of the funds and the knowledge and expertise of our teams. With 2019 now underway, we believe that our strategies continue to offer compelling growth opportunities for investors this year, especially in markets such as Japan, Asia ex-Japan, Global and Europe ex-UK.”


CONTINUED STRATEGIC GROWTH OF INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT TEAM

Comgest continued to broaden the skill set of its fund management team, which comprised 45 members at the end of 2018. Additions to the team include: in Paris, James Hanford and Pierre Maindron to the European and Emerging Markets teams, respectively; while in Tokyo, Junzaburo Hyuga joined the Japanese team. 


AWARD HIGHLIGHTS

For the fifth year in a row, the UN PRI recognized Comgest with an A+ (top-grade) rating for the quality and implementation of its Responsible Investment Policy.

Various publications³ and research houses named Comgest as 2018’s “Best European Equity Managers” in recognition of the consistent implementation and robust long-term performance of its quality growth approach across the Group’s product range. Comgest was also named “Best Equity Fund House” by Morningstar^® in Benelux, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Switzerland, UK⁴. Likewise, for the fourth year in a row Comgest ranked number one in the Alpha League Table in France⁵.

Footnotes
¹In Euro
²Relative to the MSCI AC World 
³FundClass European Funds Trophy 2018 (Europe); InvestmentEurope (Europe) 
⁴Morningstar Announces Winners for Morningstar UK Fund Awards 2018, Morningstar UK, 22 Jun 2018.
⁵SIX Financial Information, Alpha League Table, 28 May 2018.