WS Canlife North American Fund

WS Canlife North American Fund

• The Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in the shares of companies which are incorporated or domiciled in North America, including real estate investment trusts (REITs)
• It can invest across different industry sectors and market capitalisations without limitation
• It may also invest up to 20% of the assets by value in debt securities (such as corporate bonds, government and public securities), money market instruments, deposits and cash
• Investment in collective investment schemes is limited to 10% of the assets by value
• The Fund may use derivatives for the purpose of efficient portfolio management
• Up to 25% of the Fund’s holdings by value may be used to generate additional income from stock lending

For further details on the objective and investment policy, visit the Literature section to view fund KIIDs and Prospectus.

How the Fund is managed

• • The Fund uses a blend of top-down macro views and bottom-up stock selection to identify investment ideas in which we have the highest conviction, it is flexible, pragmatic and mindful of prevailing macroeconomic and market conditions, for example; employment, inflation and gross domestic product
• Fundamental analysis – specific holdings are determined through research that is undertaken by the Canada Life Asset Management’s equities team, including company visits and conferences.  The US market offers a vast range of companies that are large by UK standards, but may be considered small/medium-sized businesses in the US. The choice spans a variety of industries, services and geographical locations, allowing the manager to gain targeted exposure
• Sector selection - Sector allocations are important in order to ensure balance and diversification. Typically, macro and market views are considered in order to balance the portfolio across factors such as growth, cyclicality and defensiveness. Additionally, the desired exposure to trends such as in bond yields and commodity prices are key considerations. This approach to portfolio construction allows us to deliver a diversified source of return from both a capital and income perspective
• Stock selection - typically across companies of all sizes, from large well-knowns to smaller scale operations.  The stock selection process itself takes into account several factors. These include the company’s market position, quality of its brand and underlying assets, how it fits in with current market and economic trends, and the specific drivers behind earnings and dividend growth. The managers will also conduct a thorough analysis of a company’s valuation, being sure to understand its earnings forecasts and any changes to a company’s strategy or management team

Reasons to recommend

Top down macroeconomic style

The Fund is heavily influenced by the economic backdrop and its impact on stocks, sectors and markets. We all live in the real economy and it impacts everything we do. Similarly, our economic view is used to determine risk stance, sector positioning and the type of stocks held. Generally companies with low debt, strong cash flow and a high return on equity are favoured although this varies with the economic cycle.

Strong contrarian bias

The Fund constantly seeks misunderstood investments that have underperformed the market or sector. This often provides us with good entry points to invest in companies we already like which are purchased after the thesis has been re-validated.

Style agnostic

The fund will invest across all sectors, stocks and styles dependent on investment opportunity, macroeconomic backdrop and valuation. It will not be unduly biased to any one thematic or style but instead respond to investment opportunity as they present. The co-managers typically have skillsets in a different sectors and styles which, in combination, provide the best, balanced outcomes.

Experienced management

Mike Willans has more than 25 years’ investment experience. He joined Canada Life Asset Management in October 1999 and was appointed Head of International Equities in March 2010 and then Head of Equities in May 2018. Mike heads up an experienced team that can also draw on the insights of other equity and fixed income specialists at Canada Life Asset Management. Bimal Patel joined Canada Life Asset Management’s equities team in September 2013.

The value of investments may fall as well as rise and investors may not get back the amount invested.

Due to the underlying assets held, the price of the fund is classed as having above average to high volatility.

This page is for information only. It does not constitute a direct offer to anyone, or a solicitation by anyone, to subscribe for shares or buy units in fund(s). Subscription for shares and buying units in the fund must only be made on the basis of the latest Prospectus and the Key Investor Information Document (KIID) available in the Literature section