Our philosophy and process

  • The strategy is conviction-based with no sector constraints and few country constraints; the portfolio may invest in any country except the U.S. and has the scope to invest in emerging markets. A constantly evolving and forward-looking approach seeks to anticipate change, manage risk, and identify opportunities
  • ESG considerations are integrated throughout the research process and via proprietary quality reviews, to ensure that any material issues are captured.

Every time we consider a security or look at an industry or country, it’s in the context of what’s happening across the world. We believe the investment landscape is shaped over the long term by some key trends, and we use a range of global investment themes to capture these.

State intervention

Authorities have engaged in ever-greater policy intervention and regulation to shore up economic growth. We believe ‘state intervention’ has increased misallocation of capital, caused volatility in markets and inflated asset prices – and we think that calls for a stock-specific approach.

Financialization

Cheap money has caused rapid growth in a sector already supported by deregulation. ‘Financialization’ investigates the implications of finance dominating economic activity, instead of serving it.

Net effects

The world has made the transition from connecting places to connecting people to connecting devices. The rapid rise in the ‘internet of things’ is transforming lifestyles and business. This creates winners and losers – our ‘net effects’ theme seeks to identify them.

Healthy demand

The industry for health-care products and services is growing rapidly. Ageing populations are fuelling demand in developed economies, and increasing incomes and changing lifestyles are creating new markets in emerging economies. ‘Healthy demand’ looks at the opportunities and the risks.

Investment team

Our International Equity strategy is managed by a team with a wide range of backgrounds and varied experience. Our global sector analysts and investment managers are located on a single floor in London, which helps to ensure that the investment process is flexible and opportunistic. Guided by our global investment themes, the team works together to identify opportunities and risks through research and debate.

18
years’ average investment experience
11
years’ average time at Newton
  • Paul Markham
    Paul Markham

    Portfolio manager, global equities

  • Jeff Munroe
    Jeff Munroe

    Investment leader, global equities

  • Charles French
    Charles French

    Head of Equity Opportunities

  • Ben Smith
    Ben Smith

    Portfolio manager, UK equities

  • Paul Birchenough
    Paul Birchenough

    Portfolio manager, equity opportunities

  • Ian Smith
    Ian Smith

    Portfolio manager, equity opportunities

  • Louise Kernohan
    Louise Kernohan

    Portfolio manager, UK equities

  • Yuko Takano
    Yuko Takano

    Portfolio manager, global equities

  • Simon Nichols
    Simon Nichols

    Portfolio manager, UK equities

  • Sahil Mali
    Sahil Mali

    Investment Analyst

Strategy profile

Objective

To achieve long-term capital growth from investing in global equities, excluding U.S. securities

Comparative index

MSCI EAFE (NDR)

Performance aim

To outperform the comparative index by over 2% per annum

Typical number of equity holdings

55 to 80

Strategy size

C$2bn (as at Dec 31, 2020)

Strategy inception

November 1, 1997

Investment Matters podcast
Audio

Equity income: the academic evidence supporting the sector

We look at recent academic work that underpins the effectiveness of global equity-income investing.
March 18, 2021
Global equities, Global income, Macro views, Sector research
Return of the Cyclicals
Blog

Return of the Cyclicals

We discuss the outlook for cyclical stocks.
Paul Markham
December 17, 2020
Coronavirus, Global equities, Sector research
Fast forward: A journey to the future of investment
Blog

The Future Today: Key Trends Shaping the Investment Landscape

We analyze how the pandemic is shaping key trends affecting the investment landscape today and in the future.
Curt Custard
November 18, 2020
Coronavirus, Global equities, Macro views, Real Return, Responsible investment, Sector research, Sustainable, Themes

Your capital may be at risk. The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise and investors may not get back the original amount invested.

Key investment risks

  • There is no guarantee that the strategy will achieve its objective.
  • This strategy invests in international markets which means it is exposed to changes in currency rates which could affect the value of the strategy.
  • The strategy will use derivatives to generate returns as well as to reduce costs and/or the overall risk of the strategy. Using derivatives can involve a higher level of risk. A small movement in the price of an underlying investment may result in a disproportionately large movement in the price of the derivative investment.
  • The strategy may invest in emerging markets. These markets have additional risks due to less developed market practices.
  • A fall in the value of a single investment may have a significant impact on the value of the strategy because it typically invests in a limited number of investments.
  • The strategy may invest in small companies which may be riskier and less liquid (i.e. harder to sell) than large companies. This means that their share prices may have greater fluctuations.