Schroder ISF QEP Glbl Qual A1 Acc USD

Analyst Report
Morningstar's Take
|30/07/2024

by Francesco Paganelli
Schroders’ QEP group has begun a new chapter under the co-leadership of Lukas Kamblevicius and Stephen Langford. The recent and ongoing changes to the team and process limit our conviction at this stage. While the group is trending in a positive direction, Schroder ISF QEP Global Quality’s track record remains weak.

The group has come through an eventful period, which included a review of its lineup; a big step up in its environmental, social, and governance investing efforts; and a change at its helm. Portfolio manager Kamblevicius and former head of research Langford are now in charge. Kamblevicius has ultimate responsibility for the core and quality strategies, while Langford took up the team’s value range. Paul Taylor, Fredrik Regland, Katie Stafford, and David Philpotts round out QEP’s strategic steering group. The new leadership has long average tenure at the firm and is well-versed in the group’s investment approach. While the group's headcount has remained relatively stable throughout and recent senior hires have strengthened the unit, there were multiple changes among its ranks, with about a third of the researchers joining the group in 2022 or later.

The quantitative model here is designed to sweep through a universe of 15,000 stocks and select high-quality names trading at decent valuations while avoiding the riskier segments of the market. Quality is captured by evaluating and ranking the underlying characteristics of each company, namely, profitability, stability, financial strength, governance, and (since 2020) growth metrics. While the firm’s core quant approach is distinctive and sensible, and at a high level remains true to its roots, there are many moving parts here. For instance, the portfolio has gradually shifted toward growth stocks, and the number of portfolio holdings has swung meaningfully over time from around 250 to 500 stocks. Some of these changes have led to a welcome improvement in performance in 2021-22. Still, while risk has been well under control, this strategy’s track record remains uninspiring, as it lags the Morningstar Global Target Market Exposure Index benchmark across most periods, in spite of the style tailwind enjoyed over much of its history.
 
Morningstar Medalist Rating™The distinctive systematic approach has merits, but this strategy’s results and multiple changes give us pause.
To find out how Morningstar rates a fund click here.
Morningstar Pillars
PeopleAverage
ParentAbove Average
ProcessAverage
 
Morningstar Medalist RatingMorningstar assigns the Medalist Rating to funds that are qualitatively and quantitatively assessed through manager research and algorithmic processes. The assessment turns on three key “pillars” – People, Process, and Parent – that yield an estimate of how well a fund will perform before fees but after adjusting for risk.
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A fim de prover consistência para todos os relatórios fornecidos por diferentes Asset Managers, os data points calculados apresentados são gerados usando uma metodologia de cálculo proprietária da Morningstar, que pode ser conferida com mais detalhes em(https://www.morningstar.com/research/signature)
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