Fundsmith Chief Executive and CIO Terry Smith addressed the latest medirectalk organised by MeDirect Bank Malta which was held online.
Fundsmith is an equity fund focused on delivering superior investment performance at a reasonable cost. The rigorous research process of Fundsmith is central to its operation. The fund-house applies exacting standards to potential investments to produce a portfolio of resilient businesses with excellent performance.
Opening the webinar, Terry Smith provided an overview of the performance of the Fundsmith Equity Fund over the past six months, which registered a growth of 13.1%. Focusing on the companies that contributed to this positive trend, he attributed the growth mainly to the efficiency which resulted from increased investment in technology and transformation of digital businesses – namely online payments, digital marketing and operating systems.
Smith proceeded to explain the fund’s overarching investment strategy which relies on the principle of investing only in good companies. He argued that past profitability of good companies is generally a good indicator of future performance, as good companies do not become bad companies overnight and vice-versa. This was illustrated by Smith, by showing data spanning over six decades.
Addressing the common concern whether tech companies, which in this particular case constituted a third of the Fundsmith investment portfolio, were over-valued, Smith argued that these were well balanced out with a number of non-tech companies which complemented them, from a wide spread of sectors.
Speaking about Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), he said that according to academic research 75 per cent of ESG portfolio outperformance is due to quality factors. Underlining the fact that ESG alone is not enough, Smith said that no one needs a company which is superbly compliant on every aspect of ESG, but which will disappear in the long term. He said that companies also require conventional wisdom and sound management in order to achieve outperformance.
Fundsmith Chief Executive and CIO Terry Smith graduated in History from University College Cardiff in 1974. He worked for Barclays Bank from 1974-83 and became an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in 1976. He obtained an MBA at The Management College, Henley in 1979. He became a stockbroker with W Greenwell & Co in 1984 and was the top-rated bank analyst in London from 1984-89. In 2010 he founded Fundsmith where he is CEO and CIO.
In order to view the latest medirectalk session, as well as the past events visit https://www.medirect.com.mt/invest/medirectalk
Fundsmith equity fund is manufactured by Fundsmith SICAV and represented in Malta by MeDirect Bank (Malta) plc.
The information given during this seminar is being provided by Fundsmith SICAV. The information contained in this talk is for general information purposes only and is neither intended to provide legal or other professional advice nor does it commit MeDirect Bank (Malta) plc to any obligation whatsoever. The information available during the seminar is not intended to be a suggestion, recommendation or solicitation to buy, hold or sell, any securities and is not guaranteed as to accuracy or completeness.
The financial instruments discussed may not be suitable for all investors and investors must make their own informed decisions and seek their own advice regarding the appropriateness of investing in financial instruments or implementing strategies discussed herein.
If you invest in this product you may lose some or all of the money you invest. The value of your investment may go down as well as up. A commission or sales fee may be charged at the time of the initial purchase for an investment. Any income you get from this investment may go down as well as up. This product may be affected by changes in currency exchange rate movements thereby affecting your investment return therefrom. The performance figures quoted refer to the past and past performance is not a guarantee of future performance or a reliable guide to future performance. Any decision to invest should always be based upon the details contained in the Prospectus and Key Investor Information Document (KIID), which may be obtained from MeDirect Bank (Malta) plc.
