ES R&M European Fund
Taking a pragmatic and contrarian investment approach to select attractive companies which offer value, and are also contributing positively to society
Why the ES R&M European Fund?
The fund is contrarian, pragmatic and designed to benefit from a forthcoming recovery in the European business cycle.
The portfolio offers compelling exposure to some of the most interesting investment themes in the stock market, such as decarbonisation and the post-Covid recovery which can be accessed through well run, attractive franchises.
And by placing ESG factors at the core of the approach, we are ensuring that investors can be proud of the companies they are investing in, as well as gaining sustainable, long-term returns.
Investment philosophy and process
Combining six key tenets we look for in our companies – which lead us away from the herd – as well as our pragmatic top-down business cycle framework and systematic, repeatable process, the fund presents an opportunity for clients to invest in a portfolio with attractive and differentiated characteristics.
Being underweight Europe has been an easy source of outperformance for the last decade. Most European funds consist overwhelmingly of expensive quality growth stocks – we offer something very different that will take advantage of this next cycle having different characteristics to the last – which we strongly believe it will.
We avoid both highly valued bond proxies and growth stocks, but also structurally challenged deep value. Yet despite the all-time highs in US markets, incredibly narrow investor preference means some great European businesses outside the well-owned, expensive areas are available well below pre-Covid levels.
Performance
Views from the manager
Watch the latest webinar with James Sym in which he discusses the fund, the market and his current thinking re positioning and outlook.
Please note that this webinar is hosted by BrightTALK, a free service which does require users to register with their name and a valid email address.
About the fund manager

James Sym
Portfolio Manager, PVT Equities
James graduated from the University of Cambridge with a degree in Natural Sciences. James joined Cazenove Capital in 2007 as a graduate trainee in Wealth Management before moving to the Pan European desk in 2008. In 2012 he launched the Cazenove European Income fund as co-manager and, following the Schroders acquisition of Cazenove in 2013, was appointed manager of a number of continental and pan European equity products, ultimately managing over £2bn of client assets as well as forming the specialist European equity team at Schroders.
He joined River and Mercantile in June 2020 and is a member of the PVT equities team with responsibility for the European franchise.

Fund downloads
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