AXA Framlington American Growth

Innovation, unique brands and intellectual property are the sort of features that can give companies a competitive advantage, helping them grow into market leaders. These kinds of stories are what the team hope to uncover for this fund in their quest for growth stocks in the US market.

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Our Opinion
Fund Manager
Key Facts
Fund Performance
Risk
Company Description
Investment process
ESG

Our Opinion

Steve is a very long-standing and experienced manager, assisted by David and backed up by a well-resourced team. The focus on strong growth allows the AXA Framlington American Growth fund to be able to benefit from exciting, less researched companies in the US market. The growth bias naturally leans towards this fund performing better when these stocks are in favour.

Fund Manager

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Fund Manager

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David Shaw, Manager Before joining AXA IM, David was a Senior Portfolio Manager at Aerion Fund Management for 13 years, co-managing a $1.5 billion North American equity portfolio. Prior to that, he spent a decade as a UK fund manager and analyst at Aerion Fund Management, NPI Asset Management, and Natwest Investment Management. David holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronic Engineering from City University, London, is a member of CFA UK (ASIP), and has completed the London Business School Investment Management Programme.

David Shaw, Manager Before joining AXA IM, David was a Senior Portfolio Manager at Aerion Fund Management for 13 years, co-managing a $1.5 billion North American equity portfolio. Prior to that, he spent a decade as a UK fund manager and analyst at Aerion Fund Management, NPI Asset Management, and Natwest Investment Management. David holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronic Engineering from City University, London, is a member of CFA UK (ASIP), and has completed the London Business School Investment Management Programme.

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Key Facts

Asset type Equity

Annual Income (Historic) -

Sector North America

Gearing-

Fund Size-

Fund Manager Start Date 10 January 25

Ongoing Charges Figure (OCF) -

Payment Date(s) Mar

Annual Management Charge (AMC) -

Fund Performance

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Risk

The nature of growth companies, which tend to be cyclical, means the fund will be more volatile than the typical large-cap focused US fund. Investors should be aware of the fund’s heavy style bias and the fund may struggle during periods when the value style of investing is in favour.

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Risk: 7

Company Description

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) is the asset management arm of the eponymous French insurance giant. AXA IM’s equity investment team manages a range of qualitative and quantitative solutions. AXA IM’s qualitative equity strategies – which are actively managed - aim to generate high and consistent returns over the long term, investing in companies with high revenue growth and sustainable profit margins. The quantitative investment approach, driven by the ‘Equity QI’ team, combines vast sets of data and technology to seek investment opportunities on a global scale. AXA IM Equity was awarded the Elite Provider for Equities rating in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2021.

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Fund Performance

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Risk

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The nature of growth companies, which tend to be cyclical, means the fund will be more volatile than the typical large-cap focused US fund. Investors should be aware of the fund’s heavy style bias and the fund may struggle during periods when the value style of investing is in favour.

Company Description

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AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) is the asset management arm of the eponymous French insurance giant. AXA IM’s equity investment team manages a range of qualitative and quantitative solutions. AXA IM’s qualitative equity strategies – which are actively managed - aim to generate high and consistent returns over the long term, investing in companies with high revenue growth and sustainable profit margins. The quantitative investment approach, driven by the ‘Equity QI’ team, combines vast sets of data and technology to seek investment opportunities on a global scale. AXA IM Equity was awarded the Elite Provider for Equities rating in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2021.

Investment process

As the name suggests, AXA Framlington American Growth has a strong growth bias and Steve aims to invest in companies exhibiting genuine organic growth. Finding the stories that fit his stock-picking framework is what Steve believes will provide investors with superior returns over the long term. Meetings with management are central to the research process; the team collectively conduct more than 200 company meetings per year. Steve and David benefit from the cross-fertilisation of investment ideas provided by Framlington managers, notably in technology, healthcare and biotechnology. Around a third of the portfolio is typically invested in tech stocks. The fund tends to have a considerable weighting in mid-cap stocks. The US equity team support a collaborative environment whereby stock ideas are openly shared between the fund managers.

Risk

The nature of growth companies, which tend to be cyclical, means the fund will be more volatile than the typical large-cap focused US fund. Investors should be aware of the fund’s heavy style bias and the fund may struggle during periods when the value style of investing is in favour.

ESG

ESG - Limited  

As a firm, AXA has company-wide investment restrictions based on specific ESG risks – an approach that has been very forward thinking. It monitors and excludes multiple industries for all assets under management (e.g: controversial weapons, palm oil and soft commodities). It has also recently enforced and strengthened its stance on coal-based power production with limits and exclusions on revenue, power generation, expansion and mining development. Beyond this, the fund has no further restrictions. Governance is, however, an important consideration, and Steve and David always engage with management teams of the portfolio holdings.

Related Insights

The information, data, analyses, and opinions contained herein (1) include the proprietary information of FundCalibre, (2) may not be copied or redistributed without prior permission, (3) do not constitute investment advice offered by FundCalibre, (4) are provided solely for informational purposes and therefore are not an offer to buy or sell a fund, and (5) are not warranted to be correct, complete, or accurate. FundCalibre shall not be responsible for any trading decisions, damages, or other losses resulting from, or related to, this information, data, analyses, or opinions or their use. The Elite Fund rating is subjective in nature and reflects FundCalibre’s current expectations of future events/behaviour as they relate to a particular fund. Because such events/behaviour may turn out to be different than expected, FundCalibre does not guarantee that a fund will perform in line with its FundCalibre benchmark. Likewise, the Elite Fund rating should not be seen as any sort of guarantee or assessment of the creditworthiness of a fund nor of its underlying securities and should not be used as the sole basis for making any investment decision. FundCalibre disclaims any responsibility for trading decisions, damages or other losses resulting from any use of the Elite Fund rating. All performance data, as well as fund size, OCF, AMC, annual income (historic), share price discount or premium, is sourced directly from FE Analytics, and will change periodically.