What the Polaris Global Equity Fund aims to offer
Broad diversified exposure
To some of the world’s most undervalued companies across a range of industries, countries and market capitalisations
Unique brand of value investing
A strong focus on cashflow; the key indicator of value
Long-term returns
Potential for attractive performance
| Fund facts |
| Investment objective |
The Polaris Global Equity Fund aims to achieve a long-term total return (before fees and expenses) that exceeds the MSCI World ex Australia Index, in $A unhedged with net dividends reinvested. |
| Benchmark |
MSCI World ex Australia Index, in $A unhedged with net dividends reinvested. |
| Portfolio managers |
Bernard Horn, Sumanta Biswas, Bin Xiao, Jason Crawshaw |
| Inception date |
10 October 2014 |
| Fund size |
$A169.6m (current as at 31 December 2018) |
| Management fee |
1.28% pa of the net asset value of the Fund |
| Performance fee |
0.00% |
| Minimum investment |
$A20,000 |
| Distribution frequency |
Generally semi-annually |
| APIR code |
MAQ0838AU |
| Macquarie Professional Series |
The Polaris Global Equity Fund is proudly brought to you by Macquarie Professional Series. Learn more |
Read the Product Disclosure Statement for more details on fees and expenses that may be charged.
Investment strategy
Polaris’s global value investment philosophy is based on two basic beliefs:
(i) country and industry factors are important determinants of security prices, and
(ii) global market fluctuations produce mispriced stocks.
Global markets have proven generally efficient over time, but investor behaviour creates volatility that can lead to inefficiencies. During these periods, the stock price may not reflect a company’s long-term fundamental valuation and/or future cash flows. The Polaris team seeks to buy such undervalued companies worldwide.
Bottom-up fundamental research comprises the vast majority of time spent in the investment process. The research process is driven by a worldwide search for undervalued common stocks of strong companies that are priced to provide the required rate of return. Fundamental research covers financial analyses of companies including in-depth review of financial statements, research on suppliers, customers and competitors and meetings with company management.
This bottom-up stock selection results in portfolio weightings across industry, country and market capitalisation that are a function of what Polaris believes are the most attractive value opportunities. Although there are no limits on the proportion of the fund’s assets that may be invested in companies located in any one country, Polaris seeks to achieve broad geographic diversification and typically invests in approximately 15 industries. The fund will generally hold between 65 and 100 securities of companies listed globally which may also include exposure to companies in emerging markets and small capitalisation companies.
Managers
Bernard Horn
President, Portfolio Manager
Mr. Horn founded Polaris in April 1995 to expand his existing client base dating to the early 1980s. Mr. Horn has been managing Polaris’ global and international portfolio since the firm’s inception. Mr. Horn’s pure global value philosophy combines a quantitative global valuation model and investment technology with traditional fundamental research. His 30+ year track record exceeds most current competitors in length and has produced admirable risk-adjusted returns since inception. Education: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, M.S.; Northeastern University, B.S.
Sumanta Biswas
Vice president, Assistant Portfolio Manager
Sumanta Biswas joined Polaris Capital Management as an Analyst in January 2002 after completing an internship with the firm. He was promoted to Assistant Portfolio Manager in 2004, was named Vice President in 2005 and became a partner at Polaris in 2007. Mr. Biswas is a generalist and does fundamental analysis of potential investment opportunities. He works closely with Mr. Horn in all aspects of managing the portfolio’s investments, and contributes measurably to the success of the Polaris portfolios. His professional experience includes an equity research internship at Delta Partners of Boston in 2001. From 1996 through July of 2000, he was an officer of the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
Education: Boston College, M.S.; Calcutta University, M.B.A.; North Bengal University in India, B.S.
Bin Xiao
Assistant Portfolio Manager
Bin Xiao has worked for Polaris since August 2006. He was promoted to Assistant Portfolio Manager in 2012 and made a partner at year end. Mr. Xiao is a generalist and does fundamental analysis of potential investment opportunities. He works closely with Mr. Horn in all aspects of managing the portfolio’s investments. In terms of prior investment experience, Mr. Xiao was a summer associate in investment banking at HSBC Global Investment Banking and interned as an analyst at Polaris.
Education: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, M.B.A.; Rochester Institute of Technology, M.S.; Beijing Institute of Technology in China
Jason Crawshaw
Assistant Portfolio Manager
Jason Crawshaw joined Polaris in January 2014 as an analyst. Previously he was a portfolio manager with Liberty Square Asset Mgmt., where he co-managed international long and long/short equity funds. At Brait Specialized Funds U.S., Mr. Crawshaw managed a U.S. long/short small cap hedge fund. He served in a similar role at Equinox. Mr. Crawshaw was an equity analyst responsible for small and mid-cap research for a fund at First Rand and Coronation Securities.
Education: University of Notre Dame, M.B.A.; Middlebury College, B.A.
Meet the manager
08 July 2015
Polaris Capital Management has a single focus on global equities and applying their deep value investment philosophy. Sumanta Biswas provides some insights into Polaris’s highly skilled stock selection capability in value investing, proven over 20 years.
Risks
All investments carry risk. Different investments carry different levels of risk, depending on the investment strategy and the underlying assets. Generally, the higher the potential return of an investment, the greater the risk. The risks of investing in this Fund include:
Investment risk: The Fund has exposure to share markets. The risk of an investment in the Fund is higher than an investment in a typical bank account or fixed income investment. Amounts distributed to unitholders may fluctuate, as may the Fund’s unit price. The unit price may vary by material amounts, even over short periods of time, including during the period between a redemption request or application for units being made and the time the redemption unit price or application unit price is calculated.
Market risk: Share markets can be volatile, and have the potential to fall by large amounts over short periods of time. The investments of the Fund are likely to have a broad correlation with share markets in general, and hence poor performance or losses in domestic and/or global share markets are likely to impact negatively on the overall performance of the Fund.
International investments risk: The Fund invests in a range of international securities, and in companies that have exposure to a range of international economies. Global and country specific macroeconomic factors may impact the Fund's international investments. Governments may intervene in markets, industries, and companies; may alter tax and legal regimes; and may act to prevent or limit the repatriation of foreign capital. Such interventions may impact the Fund's international investments.
More information on the risks of investing in the Fund is contained in the Product Disclosure Statement, which should be considered before deciding to invest in the Fund.
How to invest
Send us the Application Form and any required identification documents