Worldwide Leaders

Worldwide Leaders

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This information is a financial promotion for the Stewart Investors Worldwide Leaders Strategy intended for retail and professional clients in the UK only.

Investing involves certain risks including:

  • The value of investments and any income from them may go down as well as up and are not guaranteed. Investors may get back significantly less than the original amount invested.
  • Currency risk: the Fund invests in assets which are denominated in other currencies; changes in exchange rates will affect the value of the Fund and could create losses. Currency control decisions made by governments could affect the value of the Fund's investments and could cause the Fund to defer or suspend redemptions of its shares.
  • Emerging market risk: Emerging markets tend to be more sensitive to economic and political conditions than developed markets. Other factors include greater liquidity risk, restrictions on investment or transfer of assets, failed/delayed settlement and difficulties valuing securities.
  • Concentration risk: the Fund invests in a relatively small number of companies which may be riskier than a fund that invests in a large number of companies.

Where featured, specific securities or companies are intended as an illustration of investment strategy only, and should not be construed as investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security.

For a full description of the terms of investment and the risks please see the Prospectus and Key Investor Information Document.

If you are in any doubt as to the suitability of our funds for your investment needs, please seek investment advice.

The strategy was launched in November 2013. It invests in the shares of between 30-60 global companies. 

 

A Leaders strategy generally invests in market leading companies which means, for this strategy, that they are valued at over US$5 billion.

You can see all of the companies that this strategy invests in by filtering on our Portfolio Explorer tool.

  • We define investment risk as losing clients’ money – this means we focus on looking after your money as well as growing it

  • Companies must contribute to sustainable development and make a positive impact towards a more sustainable future.  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 >

Quarterly updates

Strategy update: Q3 2024

Worldwide Leaders strategy update: 1 July - 30 September 2024

We bought one new company during the quarter. Rentokil Initial (United Kingdom: Industrials) is a global leader in pest control services, a necessary and critical health and hygiene service to secure homes, hospitals and businesses against disease and damage. 

Its business model is local in nature and generates lots of income through resilient and regular, repeating sales. The management team is focused on growth by increasing the density of its route network to drive improvements in profitability and earnings. 

During the quarter we sold completely out of four companies as we grew concerned about their ability to grow their end customer markets. These include: Midea (China: Consumer Discretionary) which makes home appliances for the Chinese market; Infineon Technologies (Germany: Information Technology) which makes semiconductors for electric vehicle and renewable energy markets; Hamamatsu Photonics (Japan: Information Technology) which makes equipment to generate, detect and filter light for scanners, x-ray machines and automation devices such as barcode readers; and Graco (United States: Industrials) which specialises in paint sprayers and products that manage corrosive and other difficult-to-handle fluids.

We are always looking at new companies and recently visited Sweden to meet with some new and some old businesses, including Atlas Copco (Sweden: Industrials), the world's leading manufacturer of air compressors, which is held in the strategy. The opportunity to meet with company management on their ‘home turf’ is invaluable; it is much easier to get a sense of how culture and people have shaped a company and its future return profile when sitting within their offices; or, in the case of Atlas Copco, 20 metres below their office in a test mine. We continue to find excellent investment ideas by focussing on the impact that outstanding people can have on businesses with strong business franchises and resilient financials.

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Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Named new investments disclosed relate to holdings with a portfolio weight over 0.5%. It is not a recommendation or solicitation to purchase or invest in any fund. Differences between the representative account-specific constraints, currency or fees and those of a similarly managed fund or mandate would affect results.

Strategy update: Q2 2024

Worldwide Leaders strategy update: 1 April - 30 June 2024

“We know we’re not going to get our money out, so we’d rather burn it up in paying our employees1”.

For Lincoln Electric (United States: Industrials), getting out the Russian market was an easy decision, the only question was how. They stopped production in April 2022 and have focused on supporting their former employees as they look for options to divest their facility. Meeting with companies in person helps us to understand the quality of management through the decisions that they take.

We recently visited the United States to meet with a wide range of industrial and consumer companies across Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Boston and New York. In total we met with 50 companies, many of them leaders in their industries. We highlight some of the companies we met with in more detail here along with the reasons why we believe they fit so well with our investment approach. The trip was a great reminder of the number of excellent companies out there with competent and ethical company leaders that generate returns by focusing on building long-term business franchises in profitable niches.

During the quarter we added a new position in Ashtead Group (United Kingdom: Industrials), an industrial and construction equipment rental company with a long-tenured leadership team. Despite being founded in the UK in 1947, Ashtead Group currently derives more than 80% of its sales from the United States. This comes from its company Sunbelt, which it bought in the 1990s1. Renting equipment reduces the need for companies to own equipment that sits idle and leads to improved resource efficiency and reduced environmental impact. The rental equipment market is currently divided among many smaller providers which offers room for successful businesses to grow. We continued to add to our position in TSMC (Taiwan: Information Technology) reflecting our confidence in the long-term potential of its business. We also added to positions in MonotaRO (Japan: Industrials), Fortinet (United States: Information Technology) and Old Dominion Freight Line (United States: Industrials).

We sold two companies, Samsung C&T (South Korea: Industrials) and EPAM Systems (United States: Information Technology), in preference for other ideas. We also trimmed exposure to Mahindra & Mahindra (India: Industrials), and Infineon Technologies (Germany: Information Technology).

During the quarter, one of our companies was targeted by an activist investor (an individual/group that buys a large number of a company's shares and uses that ownership to put pressure on the company and change how it is managed) who was concerned that the company was overbuilding manufacturing capacity. Their concerns were based on near-term sales expectations in an industry that is expected to grow by multiples in the coming years. We disagreed as the company’s record during economic down periods and industry leading investments has handsomely rewarded patient shareholders. We wrote to offer them our support.

The market concentration we highlighted last quarter shows no sign of reducing with continuing excitement about any company connected with building Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure. We do not know how new technologies work through an economy or where the main sales or profits will appear. Instead of focusing on a single growth driver, we aim to build a portfolio of companies that can benefit from a variety of diverse growth drivers, as we believe that this is the best way to protect and grow over the long term.

1 Source: Stewart Investors investment team and company data

Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Named new investments disclosed relate to holdings with a portfolio weight over 0.5%. It is not a recommendation or solicitation to purchase or invest in any fund. Differences between the representative account-specific constraints, currency or fees and those of a similarly managed fund or mandate would affect results.

Strategy update: Q1 2024

Worldwide Leaders strategy update: 1 January - 31 March 2024

During the quarter we invested in a new company: TSMC (Taiwan: Information Technology) and added to Samsung Electronics (South Korea: Information Technology). Both companies are fabricating the chips that will be used by technology companies to drive innovative solutions to the world’s problems and are an essential part of the semiconductor product journey. In addition, both companies are well run with strong growth prospects and reasonable valuations.

We also bought a new Japanese diagnostics company Sysmex (Japan: Health Care). Sysmex play a key role in the early detection and prevention of diseases and are also driving accuracy, affordability and efficiency in surgery through investments in surgical robots.

Other new investments include Samsung C&T (South Korea: Industrials) and Techtronic Industries (Taiwan: Industrials) as we took advantage of attractive valuations to buy companies well set up to grow over the next decade. We also took the opportunity to add to several industrial companies that we already own at reasonable valuations including Lincoln Electric (United States: Industrials), Linde (United States: Industrials) and MonotaRO (Japan: Industrials).

These changes were funded by selling companies where we have lost conviction in their opportunities for future growth. These include two Japanese companies, Unicharm (Japan: Consumer Staples) and Shimano (Japan: Industrials). They also include two developing market banks in Kotak Mahindra Bank (India: Financials) and OCBC Bank (Singapore: Financials). While these remain good companies, the increasingly competitive environment that they are facing and the opportunities to find growth elsewhere led us to sell.

Lastly, we sold CSL (Australia: Health Care) as the stock had reached what we believe to be its full value and a range of more attractive opportunities were available. We also reduced our position in Costco (United States: Consumer Staples) due to concerns about valuations.

As we head further into 2024, there remains little consensus around whether inflation will continue to fall or rise further, whether interest rates will remain where they are or be cut, or whether we are heading into a stronger or weaker economy. However outside of the world of macro economics we are seeing some return to normality. The companies we talk to are happy that they no longer have to get rid of extra inventory that they had due to supply chain problems in 2022. They are now hoping for a return to normal growth trends. We remain as hesitant as ever to predict what the global economy is going to do, instead, focusing on finding high-quality companies supported by a diverse range of growth opportunities, with strong balance sheets and competent management to take advantage of them.

Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Named new investments disclosed relate to holdings with a portfolio weight over 0.5%. It is not a recommendation or solicitation to purchase or invest in any fund. Differences between the representative account-specific constraints, currency or fees and those of a similarly managed fund or mandate would affect results.

Strategy update: Q4 2023

Worldwide Leaders strategy update: 1 October - 31 December 2023

The strategy experienced a year of strong returns over 2023. We do not fully understand short-term market moves and so won’t speculate on the causes of short-term performance.  The market continued to rise, despite a turbulent environment as it absorbed higher inflation and interest rates, worries about recession and increasing geopolitical tensions.

Our focus, as always, is to look for high-quality management teams, running businesses that drive human development forward. Buying companies with strong balance sheets that can weather any coming storm, that have structural tailwinds driving their growth and reasonable valuations is the best way to invest our clients’ savings, and we have found many interesting investment opportunities.

We added five new companies to the strategy during the quarter. Lincoln Electric (United States: Industrials) is the world’s leading maker of welding equipment and is a high-quality franchise that is well positioned to benefit from the tailwinds of increasing automation, safety and transition to greener infrastructure. Linde (United States: Materials) is the world’s leading industrial gases company and a high-quality franchise with strong sustainability tailwinds that should drive growth for years to come. Samsung Electronics (South Korea: Information Technology) operates in consumer electronics, information technology and communications worldwide. We took the opportunity of attractive valuations to invest in a company that is well positioned to contribute technology solutions to most global development challenges. EPAM Systems (United States: Information Technology) is a digital platform engineering and software development services company. We have been interested in the company for a while and took advantage of attractive valuations to initiate a position. Midea (China: Consumer Discretionary) is a home appliances manufacturer with strong cash flows and an exciting direction of travel into innovative technologies.

We funded these new positions by divesting three stocks completely.  We have been monitoring Philips (Netherlands: Health Care) since a safety recall of ventilators in 2021 and this quarter lost conviction that management could sufficiently improve the quality of the culture and franchise.  We also sold our position in Constellation Software (Canada: Information Technology) which has been an excellent investment over the past few years but had become very expensive.  While we retain conviction in its management and business model, its valuation left no room for error and we feel there are better opportunities elsewhere.  Finally, we sold Nestlé (Switzerland: Consumer Staples) as it is struggling to grow the business at the same time as it is increasing its levels of debt.  In addition, we trimmed positions in CSL (Australia: Health Care) and Tata Consulting Services (India: Information Technology) as they had become fully valued.

During the year we visited India and met with many of the companies in the strategy, including Mahindra & Mahindra (India: Consumer Discretionary) and HDFC Bank (India: Financials). Our conviction in our Indian holdings continues to remain high in the context of the quality of these institutions and the growth opportunities they are presented with.

Our portfolio is well diversified, not only across sectors and geographies, but also across growth drivers such as improving energy efficiency, the rise of living standards in India and building clean infrastructure in the United States. As we look at a portfolio of high-quality, great sustainability companies with resilient cash flows and strong competitive positions bought at reasonable valuations, we are excited about the future.

Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Named new investments disclosed relate to holdings with a portfolio weight over 0.5%. It is not a recommendation or solicitation to purchase or invest in any fund. Differences between the representative account-specific constraints, currency or fees and those of a similarly managed fund or mandate would affect results.

Proxy voting

Proxy voting: Q3 2024

Worldwide Leaders proxy voting: 1 July - 30 September 2024

Proxy voting by country of origin

Proxy voting by proposal category

During the quarter there were 116 resolutions from six companies to vote on. On behalf of clients, we voted against four resolutions.

We voted against remuneration motions at Ashtead Group as we were concerned about excesses in CEO salary. (two resolutions)

We voted against the appointment of the auditor at Linde as they have been in place for over ten years. The company has given no information on intended rotation which we believe is important for ensuring a fresh perspective on the accounts. (two resolutions*)

*The same proposal was voted on different stock lines.

Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Proxy voting chart numbers may not add to 100 due to rounding. SHP means: Shareholder Proposal.

Proxy voting: Q2 2024

Worldwide Leaders proxy voting: 1 April - 30 June 2024

Proxy voting by country of origin

Proxy voting by proposal category

During the quarter there were 332 resolutions from 26 companies to vote on. On behalf of clients, we voted against 23 resolutions.

We voted against the appointment of the auditor at Arista Networks, bioMérieux, Edwards Lifesciences, EPAM Systems, Expeditors, Fastenal, Fortinet, Graco, Lincoln Electric, Markel, Old Dominion Freight Line, Roper Technologies and Texas Instruments as they have been in place for over 10 years and the companies’ have given no information on intended rotation. We believe rotating an auditor on a relatively frequent basis (e.g. every 5-10 years) helps to ensure a fresh pair of eyes are examining the accounts, and follows best practice. (13 resolutions)

We voted against the proposed employee stock ownership plan at Midea as we believe that involving non-executive directors in the plan could create conflicts of interest and would not be in the best interest of the shareholders. (three resolutions)

We voted against recasting (where previously cast votes on a particular matter are reconsidered or revised) and cumulative voting at WEG as this would allow the board to make changes without shareholder assessment or knowledge of the candidates. (three resolutions)

We abstained from voting on requests for a separate board election and the election of a supervisory council position at WEG as there was not enough information and we would prefer the current family stewards remain in place. (two resolutions)

We voted against a shareholder proposal about board declassification at EPAM Systems as we do not believe it is necessary for all directors to stand for election annually and have concerns that this could destabilise the board by allowing excessive turnover. (one resolution)

We voted for a shareholder proposal encouraging alignment with the Paris Agreement and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions targets. We voted against a shareholder proposal requesting a diversity & inclusion report at Expeditors as we believe this issue requires wider discussion and cannot be resolved through disclosure alone. (two resolutions)

We voted against a shareholder proposal on simple majority voting at Fastenal as it was covered by the company's own proposals. (one resolution)

We voted against a shareholder proposal on GHG emissions disclosure at Markel as the proposal called for disclosure of emissions from underwriting, insuring and investments, which is not yet widely reported or reliably reported in the insurance industry. We would prefer to discuss the issue with the company. (one resolution)

We abstained from voting on a shareholder proposal on the adoption of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions targets aligned with the Paris Agreement at Old Dominion Freight Line. We have previously engaged with the company on this issue and prefer to continue this dialogue directly. (one resolution)

We abstained from voting on a shareholder proposal to remove supermajority requirements for certain issues at Roper Technologies as the board didn't provide a recommendation. (one resolution)

We voted for shareholder proposals on the right to call a special meeting and requesting a report on customer due diligence at Texas Instruments as we found both proposals to be sensible. (two resolutions)

Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Proxy voting chart numbers may not add to 100 due to rounding. SHP means: Shareholder Proposal.

Proxy voting: Q1 2024

Worldwide Leaders proxy voting: 1 January - 31 March 2024

Proxy voting by country of origin

Proxy voting by proposal category

During the quarter there were 96 resolutions from 9 companies to vote on. On behalf of clients, we voted against 3 resolutions.

We voted against a shareholder proposal for Costco to conduct a feasibility study of reaching net zero by 2050, as we believe the company is making progress with tangible near-term climate targets in place. Long-term projections with regards to the net zero transition are difficult and can be fraught with errors, hence we currently find the company's approach reasonable and sensible. (one resolution)

We voted against one resolution at Midea in relation to them acting as guarantor for a subsidiary business as we found the guarantee amount to be excessive and not in shareholders’ best interests. (one resolution)

We voted against a Board appointment at Samsung Electronics as we would prefer to see more independent, non-family associated Directors. (one resolution)

Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Proxy voting chart numbers may not add to 100 due to rounding. SHP means: Shareholder Proposal.

Proxy voting: Q4 2023

Worldwide Leaders proxy voting: 1 October - 31 December 2023

Proxy voting by country of origin

Proxy voting by proposal category

During the quarter there were 52 resolutions from six companies to vote on. On behalf of clients, we voted against one resolution.

We voted against the appointment of the auditor at Copart as they have been in place for over 10 years and the company has given no information on intended rotation. We believe rotating an auditor on a relatively frequent basis (e.g. every 5-10 years) helps to ensure a fresh pair of eyes are examining the accounts, and follows best practice. (one resolution)

Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Proxy voting chart numbers may not add to 100 due to rounding. SHP means: Shareholder Proposal.

Sustainable investment labels help investors find products that have a specific sustainability goal. This product does not have a UK sustainable investment label as it does not have a non-financial sustainability objective. Its objective is to achieve capital growth over the long-term by following its investment policy and strategy.

Portfolio Explorer

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For illustrative purposes only. Reference to the names of example company names mentioned in this communication is merely for explaining the investment strategy and should not be construed as investment advice or investment recommendation of those companies. Companies mentioned herein may or may not form part of the holdings of Stewart Investors. Holdings are subject to change.

Certain statements, estimates, and projections in this document may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon Stewart Investors’ current assumptions and beliefs, in light of currently available information, but involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual actions or results may differ materially from those discussed. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. There is no certainty that current conditions will last, and Stewart Investors undertakes no obligation to correct, revise or update information herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Source: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. Securities mentioned are all investee companies* from representative Asia Pacific All Cap Strategy, Asia Pacific & Japan All Cap Strategy, Asia Pacific Leaders Strategy, European All Cap Strategy, European (ex UK) All Cap Strategy, Global Emerging Markets (ex China) Leaders Strategy, Global Emerging Markets Leaders Strategy, Global Emerging Markets All Cap Strategy, Indian Subcontinent All Cap Strategy, Worldwide All Cap Strategy and Worldwide Leaders Strategy accounts as at 30 September 2024. *Assets that the strategies may hold which an active decision has not been made, and sustainability assessment does not apply, include cash, cash equivalents, short-term holdings for the purpose of efficient portfolio management and holdings received as a result of mandatory corporate actions. Holdings of such assets will not appear on Portfolio Explorer.

The Stewart Investors supports the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The full list of SDGs can be found on the United Nations website.

Source for Climate Solutions and impact figures: © 2014–2024 Project Drawdown (drawdown.org). Source for Human Development Pillars: Stewart Investors investment team.

Source for climate solutions and human development analysis and mapping: Stewart Investors investment team. Contributions are defined by the team as demonstrable contributions to any solution, either direct (directly attributable to products, services or practices provided by that company), or enabling (supported or made possible by products or technologies provided by that company).

Investment terms

View our list of investment terms to help you understand the terminology within this document.

Fund data and information

Fund prices and details

Click on the links below to access key facts, literature, performance and portfolio information for the funds and share classes available in this jurisdiction:

Stewart Investors Worldwide Leaders Fund

Overview of Stewart Investors Worldwide Leaders Fund performance

Fund name Fund type Currency Price Daily change Price date Factsheet
Stewart Investors Worldwide Leaders Class I (Acc) Irish UCITs USD 21.14 -0.26 13 Dec 2024
Stewart Investors Worldwide Leaders Class III (Acc) Irish UCITs USD 17.92 -0.25 13 Dec 2024
Stewart Investors Worldwide Leaders Class A (Acc) OEIC GBP 756.71 0.45 13 Dec 2024
Stewart Investors Worldwide Leaders Class B (Acc) OEIC GBP 905.56 0.45 13 Dec 2024

Share prices are calculated on a forward pricing basis which means that the price at which you buy or sell will be calculated at the next valuation point after the transaction is placed. Where a fund price is marked XD, this means that the fund is currently Ex-Dividend. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance. The value of shares and income from them may go down as well as up and is not guaranteed. Please note that the yield quoted above is not the historic yield. It is considered that the yield quoted represents the current position of investments, income and expenses in the fund and that this is a more accurate figure. Investors may be subject to tax on their distribution. The yield is not guaranteed or representative of future yields. You should be aware that any currency movements could affect the value of your investment. The Funds within the First Sentier Investors Global Umbrella Fund plc (Irish VCC) are denominated in USD or EUR.

Strategy and fund name changes

As of end of 2024, please note that Stewart Investors strategies and the Funds within the UK First Sentier Investors ICVC and First Sentier Investors Global Umbrella Fund plc (Irish VCC) have been renamed. Please refer to note below for further information.