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CT Global Focus Fund

Quality leads to consistent growth

The CT Global Focus Fund is a best ideas portfolio of the world’s high-quality companies. Following the approach of our successful SICAV strategy, this fund seeks out quality companies with sustainable competitive advantage that are able to continually grow their earnings above the market. Our extensive research network of equity investment professionals across geographies and sectors equips Fund Manager, David Dudding, with a uniquely broad and diversified investment opportunity set, crucial at a time when growth is scarce.

Overview

More opportunity - Global research capabilities drive differentiated stock holdings

Although a focused portfolio of typically 30-50 holdings, the fund has a more balanced and diversified opportunity set and no reliance on a particular sector or geography to drive performance. For example, exposure to faster growing emerging market economies and quality companies within areas such as financials.

More quality - A clear and differentiated quality approach focusing on competitive advantage

The team looks for multiple sources of competitive advantage in a businesses that provide a wide economic moat, such as strong brand, low-cost production, network effect, efficient scale meaning only a few large players can operate, and switching costs that make changing a service or product expensive. The teams believes these competitive advantages give businesses a strong position to withstand disruptive innovation.

More growth - Invests in companies sustainably growing faster than the market

The fund has a growth tilt with no style drift, which the team believes is especially important in a structurally lower-growth environment.

Key facts

Target benchmark
MSCI AC World

 

Comparator Benchmark
UK IA – Global

 

Fund Launch
April 2018

 

Typical number of holdings
30-50

 

Fund manager
David Dudding

Philosophy & approach

The team’s style is based on the search for high-quality stocks which have multi-source competitive advantages alongside robust business models, and therefore strong and sustainable long-term growth potential. The ability of quality companies to sustain high returns on capital and above-average growth is often underestimated, meaning that potential long-term winners trade at a discount to their intrinsic value.

What we mean by quality
  • Competitive advantage manifests itself in a company’s ability to generate high returns on capital
  • The market tends to assume that high returns mean-revert, causing quality companies to be undervalued with growth potential
  • Identifying companies with a sustainable competitive advantage exploits this inefficiency
Quality - graph
How we identify sustainable competitive advantage
Competitive advantage framework: how to identify strong economic moats
Circle diagram
Circle diagram

The team thoroughly analyse both company fundamentals and industry prospects, using a competitive advantage framework to identify economic moats, and apply Porter’s Five Forces to assess the sustainability of those competitive advantages.

Working with our equity research teams across the globe they then build a high conviction, best ideas portfolio of quality companies with strong growth potential.

With a ‘go anywhere’ approach, stock selection drives sector and regional weightings, and we believe our focus on businesses with strong fundamentals drives outperformance across a range of market conditions, with your clients success our priority.

Insights

28 March 2024

Jeremy Smith

Co-Head of UK Equities

The Good, the Bad and the UK Stock Market

After an exceptional 2022 the UK stock market reverted to type, underperforming in 2023. With money continuing to disappear from the market, two potential catalysts for change have emerged.
Read time - 5 min
26 March 2024

Fixed Income Desk

In Credit - Weekly Snapshot

In Credit Weekly Snapshot – March 2024

Our fixed income team provide their weekly snapshot of market events.
Read time - 5 min
26 March 2024

Ebele Conroy

Investment Analyst, Global Research

Joe Horrocks-Taylor

Senior Associate, Analyst, Responsible Investment

Green machines: the future of transport

The transportation sector has a significant impact on global emissions, but technology innovations, policy changes and shifting behaviours can reduce this. How are the different modes progressing?
Read time - 5 min

Objective

The Fund aims to achieve capital growth over the long term. It looks to outperform the MSCI ACWI Index over rolling 3-year periods, after the deduction of charges. The Fund is actively managed, and invests at least 75% of its assets in a concentrated portfolio of shares of companies worldwide. The Fund selects companies in which the fund manager has a high conviction that the current share price does not reflect the prospects for that business. These companies may be chosen from any economic sector or geographic region, with significant sector and share weightings taken at the fund manager’s discretion. There is no restriction on company size, however, investment tends to focus on larger companies, such as those included in the MSCI ACWI Index. The MSCI ACWI Index is regarded as providing an appropriate representation of the share performance of large and mediumsized companies worldwide, currently with more than 2,700 companies included. It provides a suitable target benchmark against which Fund performance will be measured and evaluated over time.

The Fund typically invests in fewer than 50 companies, which may include shares of some companies not within the Index. The Fund may invest in other securities (including fixed interest securities, convertible securities, and warrants) and collective investment schemes (including funds managed by Columbia Threadneedle companies), when deemed appropriate. The Fund may also hold money market instruments, deposits, cash and near cash. The Fund is not permitted to invest in derivatives for investment purposes, but derivatives may be used with the aim of reducing risk or managing the Fund more efficiently.

Other information: Many funds sold in the UK are grouped into sectors by the Investment Association (the trade body that represents UK investment managers), to facilitate comparison between funds with broadly similar characteristics (peer groups). This Fund is currently included in the IA Global sector. Performance data on funds within this sector may be used when evaluating the performance of this Fund.

Fund Manager

David Dudding
Portfolio Manager, Global Equities

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Disclaimer

For marketing purposes. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. Your capital is at risk. The value of investments and any income is not guaranteed and can go down as well as up and may be affected by exchange rate fluctuations. This means that an investor may not get back the amount invested.
The fund characteristics described above are internal guidelines (rather than limits and controls). They do not form part of the fund’s objective and policy and are subject to change without notice in the future. The analysis included in this document has been produced by Columbia Threadneedle Investments for its own investment management activities, may have been acted upon prior to publication and is made available here incidentally. Any opinions expressed are made as at the date of publication but are subject to change without notice and should not be seen as investment advice. Information obtained from external sources is believed to be reliable but its accuracy or completeness cannot be guaranteed.
CT Global Focus Fund: Columbia Threadneedle Specialist Funds (UK) ICVC (“CTSF”) is an open-ended investment company structured as an umbrella company, incorporated in England and Wales, authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a UK UCITS scheme. This material should not be considered as an offer, solicitation, advice or an investment recommendation. This communication is valid at the date of publication and may be subject to change without notice. Information from external sources is considered reliable but there is no guarantee as to its accuracy or completeness. The CTSIF’s current Prospectus, the Key Investor Information Document (KIID),latest annual or interim reports and the applicable terms & conditions. are available from Columbia Threadneedle Investments at PO Box 10033, Chelmsford, Essex CM99 2AL, your financial advisor and/or on our website www.columbiathreadneedle.com. Issued by Threadneedle Investment Services Limited. Registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 3701768, Cannon Place, 78 Cannon Street London EC4N 6AG, United Kingdom. Authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority. Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.
Threadneedle (Lux) Global Focus Fund: Threadneedle (Lux) is an investment company with variable capital (Société d’investissement à capital variable, or “SICAV”) formed under the laws of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The SICAV issues, redeems and exchanges shares of different classes. The management company of the SICAV is Threadneedle Management Luxembourg S.A, which is advised by Threadneedle Asset Management Ltd. and/or selected sub-advisors. Subscriptions to a Fund may only be made on the basis of the current Prospectus and the Key Investor Information Document, as well as the latest annual or interim reports and the applicable terms & conditions. Please refer to the ‘Risk Factors’ section of the Prospectus for all risks applicable to investing in any fund and specifically this Fund. Documents other than KIIDs are available in English, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish and Dutch (no Dutch Prospectus). KIIDs are available in local languages. The summary of investor rights is available on our website in English. Documents can be obtained free of charge on request by writing to the management company at 44, rue de la Vallée, L-2661 Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, from International Financial Data Services (Luxembourg) S.A. at 47, avenue John F. Kennedy, L-1855 Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and at columbiathreadneedle.com. Threadneedle Management Luxembourg S.A. may decide to terminate the arrangements made for the marketing of the Fund. Issued in the UK by Threadneedle Asset Management Limited. Registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 573204, Cannon Place, 78 Cannon Street, London EC4N 6AG, United Kingdom. Authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.