Global Equities

• Can you tell us about the Global Equity team?
 
• Why is a team approach important?
 
• How do you interact with the regional teams?
 
• What characterises Aberdeen’s investment style?
 
• What does the team look for in a stock?
 
• Why is it important to visit companies?
 
• What’s attractive about investing in global equities, particularly right now?
 

Can you tell us about the Global Equity team?

The 14 members of the Global Equity team are based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The team is a unique blend of different experience sets, and we all operate as generalists under a flat structure.

Why is a team approach important?

Culturally, we have a team approach where decisions are made collectively – we don’t believe in star fund managers. We believe cross-coverage of securities increases our objectivity and lessens our reliance on a single view.

How do you interact with the regional teams?

On a formal basis we speak to the regional teams every two weeks but informally we speak much more regularly. A big aspect of the investment approach at Aberdeen is cross coverage. Whilst the regional teams drive the research process, we in the Global Equity team participate within that process and hopefully can add a slightly different perspective for them.

What characterises Aberdeen’s investment style?

As bottom-up investors we put a great deal of emphasis on meeting with company management. The allocation, particularly within the Global Equity team, is derived from the sum of the parts of the individual components of the stocks that we put into the portfolio.

What does the team look for in a stock?

What we try to do at Aberdeen is build a degree of prudence into the investment process, and invest in quality growth companies at reasonable valuations. We look at a company’s management and ask ourselves if it is trustworthy and whether it has the track record and the wherewithal to be able to deliver good long term returns for us as shareholders. We also look at balance sheets, which need to be strong enough to be able to withstand any potential shocks, and we make sure the companies we invest in have strong and steady cash flow.

Why is it important to visit companies?

We believe it’s vitally important for the regional teams at Aberdeen to visit companies on a regular basis. It’s important that we make an assessment on the management of a company. We have to assess company management’s ability to be able to deliver for us as minority shareholders on behalf of our clients, over the medium to longer term. The only way that we can do that is via regular meetings with different individuals from the regional teams so that we can build up a broader knowledge of the companies.

What’s attractive about investing in global equities, particularly right now?

Global equity investing is truly investment without boundaries. We are not constrained, so our clients have the ability to invest in any geography and in any sector, wherever the value opportunity resides. Recent market volatility has thrown up some interesting mispricing opportunities in some good long term quality companies.