The fund seeks capital appreciation in the long term by investing in companies across any size outside the United States.
The sub-adviser’s investment process starts with a list of companies in the benchmark index and the research team utilizes quantitative techniques and fundamental analysis to identify investment opportunities.
Next, the research team focuses on companies located (or with primary operations) in Europe.
The fund normally invests in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Other countries in which the fund invests include Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Poland, Romania, Russia, and Turkey.
The team prefers companies with quality management teams and superior cash flows.
Also, the team generally favors companies with leading or improving market position, attractive business niche or improving franchise, and experienced management teams.
The team seeks companies that exhibit stable or improving earnings and/or cash flow, and sound or improving balance sheet.
The research process is driven by fundamental analysis of one stock at a time. In selecting securities for the portfolio, the research team selects stocks that have the most favorable combination of company fundamentals, earnings potential, and relative valuation.
Then the manager constructs a portfolio of stocks from a list of companies favored by the research team and allocates capital based on its conviction level.
The manager invests with an awareness of the outlook for certain industries, sectors, and individual countries within the region.
However, country allocation is driven largely by stock selection.
Normally, at least five countries will be represented in the portfolio.