277. Investing through the recession that hasn’t come… yet

We start our interview with Tom Lemaigre, co-manager of Janus Henderson European Selected Opportunities, by getting an update on the fund’s future given the retirement of veteran manager, John Bennett. Tom emphasises that the investment process and core tenets will remain unchanged despite the change of leadership. 

Tom also covers the current economic environment in Europe, including the challenges for companies and why their long-term investment approach allows them to take advantage of short-term market reactions. The interview delves into the fund’s portfolio, which is aligned with long-term thematic trends such as deglobalisation, onshoring, electrification, energy efficiency, automation, and digitalisation. Tom provides examples of these themes and finishes with two travel and transport holdings, Airbus and Safran. 

What’s covered in this episode: 

• What the retirement of John Bennett, in August 2024, means for the fund
• The key philosophy of the fund
• Why European companies are global in nature
• The impact of an anticipated recession on companies 
• How the managers can take advantage of negative sentiment 
• The impact of de-stocking on companies
• The attraction of UPM-Kymmene and…
• How it has evolved over the last decade into a more sustainable company
• The long-term themes running through the portfolio
• What friend-shoring means for company supply chains
• Stimulus coming out of Europe
• Why travel feels like a defensive play

More about the fund:

The Janus Henderson European Selected Opportunities fund is an all-weather portfolio. The emphasis is on finding mega and large-cap global leaders based in Europe, which have free cash flow and lower leverage. The managers are long-term investors and look to take advantage of short-term overreactions in the market.

Learn more on fundcalibre.com

Please remember, we’ve been discussing individual companies to bring investing to life for you. It’s not a recommendation to buy or sell. The fund may or may not still hold these companies at the time of listening. Elite Ratings are based on FundCalibre’s research methodology and are the opinion of FundCalibre’s research team only.

Learn more on fundcalibre.com

Please remember, we’ve been discussing individual companies to bring investing to life for you. It’s not a recommendation to buy or sell. The fund may or may not still hold these companies at the time of listening. Elite Ratings are based on FundCalibre’s research methodology and are the opinion of FundCalibre’s research team only.