Winnersrationale

Private banks have been gradually reducing their underweight exposure to European equities in recent months. In addition to highly attractive valuations compared with US stocks, what contributed positively to the performance of European equities were: fiscal and monetary support, the global growth recovery, the diversified revenue exposure of European companies and the long term structural trends such as digitalisation, which was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic

J.P. Morgan Asset Management benefited from this return of interest with hundreds of millions of dollars in inflows into its range of European equity strategies for the 12 months ending 31 August 2021, including rising fund flows via private banking platforms in Asia. This is compared with sizeable net outflows in the preceding 12 months. The positive inflows have been more tilted towards thematic, equity income and value strategies within Europe equity.

Within J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s range of European equity strategies, JPMorgan Funds – Europe Dynamic Technologies Fund has demonstrated a strong and consistent record of outperformance by 7.5% per annum over the past two decades. The Fund has outperformed its benchmark in 19 of 21 calendar years since inception and is the top performer among the European equity peer group on a 10-year basis.

The strategy has seized the valuation gap between the European technology sector compared to the US and Asia over the last couple of years. In particular, the fund managers at a very early stage identified a Netherlands-headquartered multinational, which specialises in design, manufacturing, sales and service of semiconductor wafer processing equipment for the fabrication of semiconductor devices. The company is the leader in the deposition technologies, having more than 50% market share. By including the company in its JPMorgan Funds – Europe Dynamic Technologies portfolio at an early stage, the Fund benefited immensely from a rally in the stock price.

With a strong long-term track record and the proven ability to identify the next big opportunities in Europe’s stock markets, J.P. Morgan Asset Management is Asian Private Banker’s Best Fund Provider – Europe Equity for 2022.