Janus Henderson European Focus

Janus Henderson European Focus is a more concentrated version of the Elite Rated Janus Henderson European Selected Opportunities fund, with 30-40 holdings, which are weighted by conviction. The managers use a combination of sector analysis and stock selection in his process, which produces a ‘best ideas’ portfolio with the flexibility to invest across all industries in the European equity market. Veteran manager John Bennett retired from the firm in 2024, with co-managers Marc Schartz and Robert Schramm-Fuchs assuming responsibility for the portfolio.

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Our Opinion

The managers' pragmatic approach means they consider the overall macroeconomic environment and sector trends, as well as the criteria of individual companies - a style that has led to strong performance. We like the fact that the team is structured in such a way that it can focus on the areas where it can add most value, and invest early enough in a stock - and with enough conviction - to maximise the investment opportunity.

Fund Managers

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Fund Managers

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Marc Schartz, Co-Manager Marc Schartz is a Portfolio Manager on the European Equities Team at Janus Henderson Investors, a role he has held since 2017. He joined Henderson in 2016 as an analyst. Before this, Marc worked at GO Investment Partners, managing a concentrated portfolio of European small- and mid-cap stocks, and at Fortis Private Bank Luxembourg. He holds an MSc in Banking and International Finance from City, University of London, Bayes Business School, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. Marc brings 20 years of experience in the financial industry.

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Robert Schramm-Fuchs, Co-manager Robert Schramm-Fuchs is a portfolio manager on the European equities team at Janus Henderson Investors. He leads the investment team focused on European large cap equities. Robert joined Henderson in 2014 as a European equity analyst. Prior to Henderson, he was with Macquarie’s global alternative energy and utilities research team from 2010. Before this, he was head of the renewables research team at Commerzbank based in Frankfurt. He also worked with BHF Bank and Independent Research covering the solar sector for nine years. Robert received a diploma in international management from Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena. He has 20 years of financial industry experience.

Marc Schartz, Co-Manager Marc Schartz is a Portfolio Manager on the European Equities Team at Janus Henderson Investors, a role he has held since 2017. He joined Henderson in 2016 as an analyst. Before this, Marc worked at GO Investment Partners, managing a concentrated portfolio of European small- and mid-cap stocks, and at Fortis Private Bank Luxembourg. He holds an MSc in Banking and International Finance from City, University of London, Bayes Business School, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. Marc brings 20 years of experience in the financial industry.

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Robert Schramm-Fuchs, Co-manager Robert Schramm-Fuchs is a portfolio manager on the European equities team at Janus Henderson Investors. He leads the investment team focused on European large cap equities. Robert joined Henderson in 2014 as a European equity analyst. Prior to Henderson, he was with Macquarie’s global alternative energy and utilities research team from 2010. Before this, he was head of the renewables research team at Commerzbank based in Frankfurt. He also worked with BHF Bank and Independent Research covering the solar sector for nine years. Robert received a diploma in international management from Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena. He has 20 years of financial industry experience.

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Quote from the Fund Manager

Our process is governed by early identification of industry or sector themes that will still be around a decade from now. This allows us to ignore the macro-driven fear and optimism that fills newspapers, and focus on what matters – real or ‘absolute’ value.

Marc Schartz

Co-Manager

Investment process

The team seek to add value by identifying and selecting sector themes and combining them with fundamental bottom-up stock 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 leads it to different ‘sector themes’, which allow it to narrow its investment universe down to the areas with the greatest potential. Research is concentrated on under-researched stocks where the team can add the most value.

The team believes in the power of mean reversion and Janus Henderson European Focus will typically have a bias towards contrarian investing as a result. It is important for the team to identify a catalyst, and ‘investing in change’ is a crucial part of the process. The portfolio has more exposure to medium-sized companies than the Elite Rated Janus Henderson European Selected Opportunities fund.

The fund previously held between 30-50 stocks; however, the team have increased the level of concentration in both this and the Elite Rated Janus Henderson European Select Opportunities fund to improve the active characteristics within the portfolio.

Risk

Janus Henderson European Focus is carefully constructed to be well diversified. It is a concentrated fund which is not afraid to take stock and sector positions which are significantly different to the index. 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. 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 want 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 managers 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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