RCRUY - Impax Global Social Leaders Fund Q4 2024 Commentary

2025-04-01 02:27:00 ET

Summary

• Impax Global Social Leaders Fund underperformed the benchmark during the quarter.
• The portfolio’s overweight position in Health Care, where holdings are focussed on innovative drug discovery and medical devices, also detracted.
• Positive performance came from Industrials, where service providers, such as recruitment platform Recruit and professional software solutions providers Wolters Kluwer, saw sold earnings growth.

Performance

The fund underperformed the benchmark during the last quarter.

Market overview

Global equities, as measured by the MSCI ACWI, posted marginally negative returns during a fourth quarter that was dominated by the US presidential elections and its ramifications. Donald Trump’s decisive victory lifted much uncertainty from the market and, in the immediate aftermath, buoyed sectors – such as cyclicals and small caps – most likely to benefit from the incoming administration’s pro-growth stance. However, fresh questions arose over issues related to trade tariffs and corporate regulation. After a quarter-point interest rate cut in December, the US Federal Reserve managed expectations for an aggressive rate-cutting regime in 2025, telegraphing only two cuts in the coming year. In China, policymakers continued to stimulate the economy as manufacturing activity in December missed analysts’ expectations, suggesting recent stimulus measures were not sufficient to meaningfully boost the economy. The European Central Bank also cut interest rates during the quarter against a backdrop of political turbulence following the collapse of the governing coalitions in France and Germany....

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