New Brandywine Global Opportunistic Equity Fund assigned a ‘Recommended’ rating from Lonsec

Felicity Walsh

Leading research house, Lonsec Research has awarded Brandywine Global’s Opportunistic Equity Fund an inaugural ‘Recommended’ rating, indicating the research agency has strong conviction the product can meet its investment objectives.

“This is the fund’s first rating since its launch in Australia just last month and we are delighted to receive this recognition from local ratings agency Lonsec,” Felicity Walsh, Managing Director, Franklin Templeton Australia said.

“This is an important milestone for the strategy and to have Lonsec’s rating at this stage of our launch is testament to the strength of the investment process that has been in place for over 10 years,” Walsh added.

In its report, Lonsec highlighted several key strengths of the manager’s investment process. “The rating reflects the well-experienced portfolio management team and their ability to leverage its internally generated stock research,” said Lonsec.

The firm also earned praise for its “well-established and coherent macroeconomic research process” – a cornerstone of Brandywine Global’s approach. By seamlessly integrating their robust macro analysis with comprehensive bottom-up company evaluation, the manager demonstrates a skill for identifying attractive investment opportunities across the capital markets.

The Brandywine Global Opportunistic Equity Fund invests in in 60 to 100 global companies, limiting stock position size to 5 per cent at purchase, and aims to outperform the MSCI ACWI (in AUD).

Lonsec was impressed with the experience of both portfolio manager and director of fundamental research James Clarke, and portfolio manager and research analyst Sorin Roibu.

“Specifically, Clarke and Roibu have comparable level of experience relative to other fundamental value peers, with both individuals having access to an adequate analyst capability with whom they have collaborated for a prolonged period of time,” Lonsec noted.

Brandywine Global’s distinct investment approach combines top-down macroeconomic analysis with rigorous bottom-up fundamental research to identify undervalued companies. The strength of their investment process is evidenced by an impressive 10+ year track record managing global equities. Of particular interest has been the team’s ability to generate consistently strong returns in an environment where growth stocks have continued to outperform, all while staying true to the value philosophy.

“The manager’s scale and heritage as a global asset manager focused on value strategies provides further support,” Lonsec said.

Lonsec commended the manager’s overall ESG policy framework and disclosure which were aligned with peers.

“ESG has always been an important part of our process and we are pleased that Lonsec recognises this too,” Brandywine Global portfolio manager and research analyst Sorin Roibu said.

According to Roibu “Brandywine Global takes its commitment to social responsibility seriously, and the Fund has a number of sustainability screens in place.”