Get the right experience for you. Please select your location and investor type.
European All Cap
The strategy was launched in June 2021 and invests in 30-45 companies that we consider to be the very best sustainability companies in Europe (including the UK).
Our European All Cap strategy invests in companies that we consider to be the very best sustainability companies in Europe. These businesses have strong and competitive franchises, exceptional people and distinctive cultures, and resilient financials. Individually and collectively they are solving difficult problems, meeting critical needs, and helping bring about a more sustainable future.
By focusing on the highest quality and best sustainability companies in Europe, we believe we can offer an exciting portfolio that stands out from the crowd.
Why invest in European companies?
World-leading sustainability companies
- Europe has a large listed universe, including world-leading health care, clean energy, manufacturing and IT companies
- Many of these companies have large and growing end-markets, including in many emerging economies, and a strong presence globally and locally
Exceptional people and cultures
- Many companies are run by outstanding management teams and are often controlled by long-term stewards – foundations, families and entrepreneurs
- Europe has a high concentration of companies with strong cultures, great franchises, and healthy balance sheets and financial characteristics
Sustainability tailwinds
- Social norms, policies and regulations are often favourable for companies advancing sustainable technologies and solutions
- European companies are known and respected for setting high standards
Strategy highlights: a focus on quality and sustainability
- Companies must contribute to sustainable development. Portfolio Explorer >
- We invest in high-quality companies with exceptional cultures, strong franchises and resilient financials. How we pick companies >
- We avoid companies linked to harmful activities and engage and vote for positive change. Our position on harmful products >
- Our approach is long-term, bottom-up, high conviction and benchmark agnostic
- We focus on capital preservation as well as capital growth – we define risk as the permanent loss of client capital
Strategy name change
Please note, from 21 November 2024 Stewart Investors European Sustainability name will be updated to European All Cap. By 30 September 2025, the Stewart Investors NZ PIE Fund name will be updated to reflect these Strategy name changes. Please refer to this note for further information.
Latest insights
Quarterly updates
Strategy update: Q3 2024
European All Cap strategy update: 1 July - 30 September 2024
The performance of the portfolio looks to have stabilised following a relatively weak start to 2024. As market turbulence around the uncertainty of interest rates and geopolitics appears to settle, we remain excited by our holdings, many of which we believe are very attractively valued for their long-term growth potential.
Three new companies were added to the portfolio during the quarter. The first, ASML (Netherlands: Information Technology), is the global leader in lithography machines used to produce chips for semiconductors. Its culture is exceptional for its focus on engineering, with almost 40% of employees working in research and development with a budget of EUR4 billion in 2023.1
We also bought another Dutch-listed, but global-facing company, Wolters Kluwer (Netherlands: Industrials), which provides professional information, software and services to a diverse range of end markets. Most of Wolter Kluwer’s sales are recurring, with inflation-linked pricing. This enables stable cash flows and a consistent investment into new products, such as their CCH® Tagetik solution, which helps companies measure and report on their environmental performance.
The final company added to the portfolio was Knorr Bremse (Germany: Industrials), a leading provider of brakes for rail and commercial vehicles. A new CEO, Marc Llistosella, has brought a renewed focus on culture, operational efficiencies and additional growth opportunities around automation and digitalisation.
During the quarter, Bechtle (Germany: Information Technology) and Teqnion (Sweden: Industrials) were sold due to waning conviction in the sustainability and scalability of the franchise.