Janus Henderson European Selected Opportunities
Experienced European equity manager John Bennett, along with his two co-managers, uses sector analysis in his process, focusing on under-researched opportunities. The resulting high-conviction portfolio of 40-50 mega and large-cap stocks, which is Janus Henderson European Selected Opportunities, has neither a growth nor a value bias.
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John Bennett is Director of European Equities at Janus Henderson Investors and manages the Janus Henderson Continental European and Pan-European long-only and long/short strategies. He has been in these roles since 2011, following the acquisition of Gartmore by Henderson. Previously, John spent 17 years at Global Asset Management, managing their flagship European long-only and equity long/short hedge funds. His career also includes a role as a fund manager at Ivory & Sime. John brings 37 years of experience in the financial industry.
Tom O’Hara is a Portfolio Manager on the European Equities Team at Janus Henderson Investors, a role he has held since 2020. He joined the firm as a research analyst in 2018, following his work at Exane BNP Paribas, where he specialized in metals and mining. Tom has also held positions at Redburn (Europe) Limited, Citigroup Global Markets, and Metal Bulletin Research. He began his career in 2006 at Northern Rock plc. Tom holds a BA (Hons) in Economics from Newcastle University and has 18 years of experience in the financial industry.
Tom Lemaigre is a Portfolio Manager at Janus Henderson Investors, where he has been since 2022. He co-manages the Continental Europe Equity, Concentrated Pan Europe Equity, European Concentrated Equity, and Pan Europe Equity strategies. Tom joined Janus Henderson in 2018 as a research analyst, having previously worked at Pensato Capital LLP as an analyst covering the consumer sector and at Redburn (Europe) Limited as an equity sales and research analyst. He holds an MEng from Imperial College London and is a Chartered Financial Analyst with 8 years of financial industry experience.
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Company Description
Janus Henderson is the product of a merger between Henderson Group and Janus Capital Group. Trading on the New York and Australian stock exchanges, the group was formed in May 2017 to form a greater collective and benefit from expanded product ranges and a larger pool of talent employed.
Fund Performance
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Quote from the Fund Manager
Our job is to put bread on the table. What is the bread? Market-beating returns.
John Bennett
Co-Manager
Investment process
The managers seek to add value by identifying and selecting sector themes and combining them with individual company analysis. They begin by considering market and industry dynamics on a global basis. The team conducts many company meetings which gives it an overall insight into the marketplace. The insights it gains lead it to different ‘sector themes’, which allows it to narrow the investment universe down to the areas with the greatest potential. Research is concentrated on under-researched companies where the team can add the most value.
Janus Henderson European Selected Opportunities will typically have a bias towards contrarian investing, as the team like to identify a catalyst and ‘investing in change’ is a crucial part of the process. With this fund, the team focuses on companies worth more than €1bn, which rules out smaller companies and many medium-sized ones, leaving a bias towards large and mega-cap stocks.
The team have historically been wary of the banking and telecom sectors, and this view still holds true due to the increase in disruption in those industries.
The fund previously held between 50-65 stocks; however, the team have increased the level of concentration in both this and the Elite Rated Janus Henderson European Focus fund to improve the active characteristics of the portfolio.
Risk
Given the size of the fund, it is still relatively concentrated with approximately 40-50 stocks. Risk is controlled by limiting holdings in an individual stock to 10%, although in the past very few have gone past the 5% barrier. However, this is likely to be more common in the future thanks to the increased concentration in holdings, a move which is also likely to see risk increase slightly. In addition, the team pays close attention to valuation and tries to invest in stocks with a ‘margin of safety’. Investors should also be aware of the currency risk.
ESG
ESG - Limited
The managers' approach to ESG is informal and on a case-by-case basis. They look at the rate of change of companies, rather than how they look at any one time and wants to ensure that they capture the solutions to environmental and social issues, rather than excluding those firms that don’t meet the accepted definition of responsible. As such, the portfolio may include firms in challenged industries, but that are leaders in reducing their carbon footprints and other environmental impacts. The team sum this up as “ESG 2.0”, where they believe the industry will move on from simply excluding laggards, into allocating towards those improving their issues. The fund does report its carbon footprint, the climate goals of its holdings and the overall ESG risk based on external data. Internally, there is regular engagement from the team at Janus Henderson on all identified E, S & G issues, with the boards of the portfolio of companies in collaboration with the wider equities team. This includes voting policies which are made in close consultation with the fund managers.
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