J Stern & Co, a London and Zurich-based Private Investment Office, has launched its successful World Stars Global Equity strategy in a Luxembourg UCITS fund.
The World Stars Global Equity Fund has been launched following investor demand for a more accessible way of investing in the World Stars Global Equity strategy. The Fund has been made available in a Luxembourg UCITS IV format, using the Alpha UCITS SICAV, the leading Luxembourg UCITS platform.
The World Stars Global Equity strategy, which is unconstrained and does not track a benchmark, invests in a concentrated selection of 20-30 shares in leading global companies with enduring competitive advantages and a long runway of growth. CIO Christopher Rossbach and his team select companies based on their own fundamental research, focusing on quality and value for the long-term. Quality means companies that are global leaders, have strong competitive positions and pricing power in structurally attractive and growing markets, have management teams with strong records of value creation and have robust balance sheets. Value means buying those companies at prices that allow for the prospect of significant capital growth over 5-10 years or more.
The World Stars Global Equity strategy represents the core approach with which the Stern family has managed the largest proportion of its financial assets for the past 60 years, following Maurice Stern’s proven investment principles of investing for the long-term based on proprietary research and a focus on quality. J Stern & Co, the successor to the Stern family’s banking and investment businesses, is owned by the family and its partners and has been managing the World Stars Global Equity strategy for third-party families, trustees, charities and other long-term investors since 1 October 2012. Clients of the Firm invest alongside the Stern family and the partners, creating a strong alignment of interest.
Since inception the strategy has generated 10.1 per cent per year. Over the last three years it has generated 13.3 per cent per year.
The Fund has been structured following the same clear, simple and transparent principles which are at the heart of J Stern & Co. It does not hedge markets or currencies, take short positions or use leverage for the purpose of investing.
The fund launched on 8 April 2019. The Stern family has seeded the Fund with more than USD30 million. Current assets are USD45 million.
Jérôme Stern, Managing Partner of J Stern & Co, says: “We are pleased to launch the World Stars Global Equity strategy in a UCITS fund following strong investor demand. The strategy has successfully deployed the same principles the Stern family has applied over three generations and we look forward to making it more accessible to a broader investor base.”
Rossbach says: “We believe a long-term approach to investing in leading global companies, focusing on quality, value, rigorous fundamental analysis and active ownership, is a proven way to generate strong investment returns over time. We are pleased to offer investors access to our World Stars Global equity strategy in an accessible and simple fund format.”
The Fund has share classes in USD, GBP, EUR and CHF in both accumulation and distribution formats. The Fund is available to institutional, charity and retail investors with USD/EUR/GBP/CHF 1 million, USD/EUR/GBP/CHF 1 million and USD/EUR/GBP/CHF 5,000 minimum investment respectively.
