CT Global Focus
CT Global Focus is a concentrated, high conviction portfolio of best ideas. It invests in high quality, high return on capital businesses which can compound over the long term. This is a genuine global fund which will venture into emerging markets but only when it can find businesses which meet its strict quality criteria.
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David Dudding is a senior portfolio manager in the Global Equities team at Columbia Threadneedle Investments. He leads the Global Focus Strategy and serves as the deputy manager of the European Select Strategy. David joined the firm in 1999 as an equity research analyst and managed the European Smaller Companies strategy for ten years until December 2012. Prior to joining Columbia Threadneedle, he worked at John Swire and Sons in Hong Kong and as a financial journalist for Investors Chronicle. David holds a degree in Modern History and a Master's in European Politics from Oxford University and is a CFA charterholder.
Alex is a portfolio manager in the Global Equities team at Columbia Threadneedle Investments. He joined the firm in 2016, initially working on the Japan Equities desk before transitioning to the Global Equities team in 2018. Alex is now co-portfolio manager of the Global Focus strategy and lead manager for several segregated Japan equity mandates. He previously worked as a Senior Fund Manager at Canada Life Investments, where he managed the Japan equity strategy and supported US and global equity strategies. Alex holds a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder.
David Dudding is a senior portfolio manager in the Global Equities team at Columbia Threadneedle Investments. He leads the Global Focus Strategy and serves as the deputy manager of the European Select Strategy. David joined the firm in 1999 as an equity research analyst and managed the European Smaller Companies strategy for ten years until December 2012. Prior to joining Columbia Threadneedle, he worked at John Swire and Sons in Hong Kong and as a financial journalist for Investors Chronicle. David holds a degree in Modern History and a Master's in European Politics from Oxford University and is a CFA charterholder.
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Company Description
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is a leading global asset management company, owned by the US financial services firm, Ameriprise Financial (NYSE: AMP). It offers a broad range of actively managed investment strategies and solutions covering global, regional and domestic markets and asset classes. These include equities, fixed income, multi-asset and alternatives, as well as specialist responsible investment capabilities and a comprehensive suite of solutions. The firm has an international presence spanning 19 countries across the UK, Europe, US and Asia. Following the acquisition of BMO Global Asset Management (EMEA) by Ameriprise Financial in 2021, and the integration of BMO GAM into Columbia Threadneedle Investments, all BMO and Threadneedle funds were renamed with the ‘CT’ naming convention in July 2022.
Fund Performance
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Investment process
The fund’s philosophy is to invest in high quality, high return on capital businesses with a sustainable or improving competitive advantage. Stocks are selected based on fundamental research. Macro-economic factors are considered but they are a secondary consideration.
The team targets businesses with a strong market position, good long term growth prospects and high sustainable or growing returns on capital. It begins by looking at developed and emerging market companies with high or improving returns. The team then typically filters out a lot of companies by only focusing on those exhibiting a high return on invested capital over the past 5 years.
Ideas come from industry conferences, regional portfolio managers or from within the global equities team. Detailed analysis is carried out to determine whether the firm meets the team’s strict quality criteria. Companies should have one or more competitive advantage supporting above average returns.
Research also includes a Porters Five Forces industry analysis. Meeting companies is a key part of the research process, not just for potential investments but also to understand the competitors, suppliers, and different industry dynamics. The team historically conducts about 3,000 company meetings per year. The Porters Five Forces allows them to understand an industry’s structure and analysis includes the threat of new entrants; the threat of substitutes; industry rivalry; power of suppliers and power of customers. The preference is for consolidated or consolidating industries.
Stock ideas are presented at one of two weekly meetings and each idea will have a sponsor from the team with a price target. Unlike some global funds, this fund will venture into emerging markets. For example, the fund has historically owned stocks in India and Taiwan. However, by far the bulk of the portfolio remains in developed markets and in particular the US. It also has a heavy stylistic tilt towards quality growth. It will typically outperform in a falling market but underperform a ‘dash for trash’ rally.
Risk
Risk is not managed to any benchmark. David believes risk is best managed by investing in quality companies and understanding how individual stock specific risks can impact the portfolio. A risk team provides the manager with a risk analysis quantifying and identifying unintended risk.
ESG
ESG - Limited
ESG factors are an important part of stock research and debate. The fund does not screen out stocks based on ESG scores. However, if a stock scores poorly on either the internal ratings or MSCI’s measure, the manager must document that all the risks have been fully considered. The wider company has excluded controversial weapons from all portfolios since 2011. The team also avoids investments in companies which breach the UN Global Compact.
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