Alphinity Investment Management has announced the listing of two global equities funds on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) — the actively managed Alphinity Global Equity Fund (ASX: XALG) and the Alphinity Global Sustainable Equity Fund (ASX: XASG).
XALG, first launched in 2015, offers a long-only portfolio of 25–40 companies that have been identified as undervalued as they enter or are about to enter an earnings upgrade cycle. Selected companies are diversified across countries, sectors, and currencies.
“Alphinity’s deeply experienced global team combines fundamental research with specific quantitative analytics to uncover stocks that can deliver ‘earnings surprises’ to drive outperformance,” explained Alphinity global portfolio manager Jonas Palmqvist.
XASG similarly offers a diversified portfolio of 25–40 leading global sustainable listed companies, which are assessed as having a net positive alignment to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, exceeding the management firm’s minimum environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria, and offering attractive prospective returns.
Moreover, a committee that includes external experts ensures that the fund continues to align with their charter and drives active engagement with companies.
As at 31 December 2022, XALG’s underlying fund has returned 11.1 per cent p.a. since its inception in 2015 and 8.5 per cent p.a. over the last three years — outperforming the benchmark by 1.5 per cent p.a. and 2.3 per cent p.a., respectively.
Meanwhile, XASG’s underlying fund has returned 2.3 per cent p.a. since its launch in June 2021, outperforming the benchmark by 1.1 per cent p.a.. Both funds use the MSCI World Net Return Index (AUD) as their benchmark.
Alphinity has been supported by Challenger Limited subsidiary Fidante throughout the listing of the two managed funds.
According to Challenger chief executive (funds management) Victor Rodriguez, the listings are part of Fidante’s larger strategy to expand its range of products and enhance the customer experience.
“Australia’s growing ETF market is driven by customer demand for easy, any time access to high-performing liquid products,” Mr Rodriguez said.
“Over the past 12 months we have invested in enhancing our digital capabilities to enable Fidante to further grow our series of active ETFs to meet this customer demand,” he concluded.
Fidante currently has 17 investment manager partnerships with more than 60 funds, managing a combined $70 billion in total funds under management.