Global Equity Growth Fund: Q2 2025

31 July 2025

The second quarter of 2025 was strong for global markets. Starting off on a negative note with the announcement of President Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs, global markets turned around strongly in mid-April boosted by tariff pull-backs, a de-escalation in trade tensions between the US and China and the passing of the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’. The Global Equity Growth Fund delivered a return of -15.7% (I Class) against peers of 13.3% and the MSCI All World Index of 11.5%. 

The second quarter of 2025 was strong for global markets. Starting off on a negative note with the announcement of President Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs, global markets turned around strongly in mid-April boosted by tariff pull-backs, a de-escalation in trade tensions between the US and China and the passing of the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’. The Global Equity Growth Fund delivered a return of -15.7% (I Class) against peers of 13.3% and the MSCI All World Index of 11.5%.

The largest contributor to performance was Axon Enterprises as the company continues to beat market expectations and raise guidance. E.l.f Beauty also performed well as Nielsen data points to an improvement in sales growth rate in the second quarter. Vertiv, a new holding in the Fund, did exceptionally well too driven by the AI trade coming back in full force.

On the negative side Enphase Energy was the largest negative contributor due to the One Big Beautiful Bill phasing out solar tax credits faster than had initially been anticipated. In addition to this Alibaba and Yum China were down due to trade tensions between China and US; however, they have since performed better as relations have improved.

Over the period the Fund exited the position in Lancashire as pricing trends which have in previous years been supportive to growth are expected to slow and we no longer view current growth expectations as attractive for the strategy with better opportunities elsewhere.

Three new positions were entered into to take advantage of the pull back in share prices of these quality names. Vertiv is a global leader in thermal and power management for critical infrastructure technology. Palo Alto which is the largest cybersecurity company globally with the most diversified platform offering and Ayden is a strong player in the highly competitive and fragmented payments market

Looking ahead into 2025, although there are still uncertainties surrounding global trade and tariffs, the economic outlook has improved, with expectations of GDP growth in the US returning against recession fears a few months ago.  

Waystone Management Company (Lux) S.A. is regulated by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) (ref A00000395 & S00000734), Waystone Management Company (Lux) S.A. is a company located in Luxembourg, L-1273 Luxembourg at 19, Rue de Bitbourg. This document is Issued by Ashburton Fund Managers (Pty) Limited (The Investment Manager) (Reg number 2002/013187/07), which has its registered office at 3 Merchant Place, 1 Fredman Drive, Sandton, 2196, South Africa and is an authorised financial services provider (FSP number 40169), registered with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). In South Africa, the Fund(s) is/are approved for promotion under section 65 of the Collective Investment Schemes Control Act 2002. The Fund Prospectus, and further information including pricing and changes, may be viewed at the Fund’s representative office in South Africa: Ashburton Management Company (RF) Proprietary Limited (Ashburton CIS), of the same address. Ashburton CIS is an approved collective investment schemes manager regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority and a full member of the Association of Saving and Investments South Africa. In the event a potential investor requires material risks disclosures for the foreign securities included in a portfolio, the manager will upon request provide such potential investor with a document, outlining potential constraints on liquidity & repatriation of funds; Macroeconomics risk; Political risk; Foreign Exchange risk; Tax risk; Settlement risk; and Potential limitations on the availability of market information. The value of participatory interests and the income from them may go down as well as up and is not guaranteed. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to the future performance. Where an investment involves exposure to a currency other than that in which it is denominated, changes in rates of exchange may cause the value of the investment to go up or down. CIS portfolios are traded at ruling prices and can engage in borrowing and scrip lending. A full detailed schedule of fees, charges and commissions is available from Ashburton on request and incentives may be paid and if so, would be included in the overall costs. The manager does not provide any guarantee either with respect to the capital or the return of a portfolio. The manager has a right to close the portfolio to new investors in order to manage the portfolio more efficiently in accordance with its mandate. This document does not constitute an offer or solicitation to any person in any jurisdiction in which Ashburton Fund Managers (Pty) Limited is not authorised or permitted to communicate with potential investors, or to anyone who would be an unlawful recipient. The original recipient solely responsible for any actions in further distribution of this document and should be satisfied in doing so that there is no breach of local legislation or regulations. This is a marketing communication. Additional information about this product, including brochures, application forms and annual or half-yearly reports, can be obtained from the Manager, free of charge, and from the website: www.ashburtoninvestments.com