Die globalen Aktienmärkte setzten im Juli ihre Erholungsbewegung fort, da sich positive Entwicklungen im Zusammenhang mit der Entwicklung möglicher Covid-19-Impfstoffe sowie verbesserte Wirtschaftsdaten ergänzten. In diesem Marktumfeld gelang es dem Fonds mit seinem Fokus auf die Sektoren Wasserversorgung und Müllentsorgung, ein positives Ergebnis von +6,7 Prozent auf USD-Basis zu erzielen. Bertrand Lecourt, FondsManager des Fidelity Sustainable Water & Waste Fund A Acc EUR (WKN A2N7YS, ISIN LU1892829828), gibt in seinem Marktbericht Einblicke in Performance und Portfoliostruktur des auf Firmen aus der Wasser- und Abfallwirtschaft spezialisierten Nachhaltigkeitsproduktes. In seinen Managersichten erhalten SJB Investoren die neuesten Informationen über den in der FondsStrategie SJB Nachhaltig enthaltenen Fidelity-Aktienfonds.
Market Environment
Equity markets continued the recovery trend in July. Positive developments around COVID-19 vaccines/treatments, improving economic data (from depressed levels in March/April) and additional stimulus measures on the fiscal side, overweighed concerns over escalating infection rates in the US and fears of second wave in Europe and Japan. At a sector level, consumer discretionary and information technology were yet again the market leaders. However, all sectors except energy returned positive figures for the month. Throughout July, water stocks performed better than waste stocks. From a market cap perspective, investors continued to prefer large-cap stocks over small-cap, although mid-cap stocks generally did well in July.
Fund Performance
Water utilities and water equipment companies were key contributors in the month. We expect the trend to continue as companies report their Q2 results into August. China Lesso, which sells plastic pipes and other plumping products, was the largest contributor to relative performance. We initiated the position in March 2020 and despite COVID-19, we expect steady free cash flow conversion with sound margin management. Entegris, was a notable contributor. It provides cleaning, filtration & purification, and protection from contamination services, to the microelectronics industry. The company posted better-thanexpected Q2 results, benefitting from strong demand for its specialty materials and filtration products. Against this backdrop, it also released a positive outlook for the rest of 2020. Amongst? our water utilities holdings, American Water Works and Sabesp were key contributors. American Water Works is a defensive regulated US water business which stands to benefit from low interest rates and investments in networks. Sabesp had been one of the key detractors during the sell-off in the first quarter and it registered a strong share price recovery. In the long-term, discussions around privatisation of the company continue to be the primary driver of stock returns. On the downside, holdings in a few select waste services companies detracted from relative performance. The position in Clean Harbors came under pressure. The company provides environmental remediation and industrial waste management services to various industries, including chemical and energy. Investors were cautious on the stock ahead of its Q2 earnings. Since the end of July, the company has reported a solid beat on Q2 numbers and has recovered some of the lost share price performance. The position in Australia-based Cleanaway Waste Management also detracted, after the company pointed to the negative impact of COVID-19 on its commercial and industrial waste revenue. In addition, the company withdrew its full year 2020 guidance. However, should the expected boost in infrastructure spending come to pass, Cleanaway will be a prime beneficiary. Lastly, Japan-based Daiseki, who are engaged in the industrial waste disposal business, was another detractor in July due to activity slowdown in Q1.
Fund Positioning
The fund employs a distinctive, replicable bottom-up investment process, focusing on quality and growth, with an overarching emphasis on sustainable investments. This is a thematic ESG fund that seeks to deliver long-term capital growth over the market cycle by investing globally in companies that are involved in the water and waste management sectors. The managers believe that water and waste management related investments are driven by long-term mega trends and should potentially generate long-term investment returns. They aim to achieve this by adopting a long-term view of company fundamentals using substantial internal and external resources to analyse the profit drivers of each company by region, division and product. The strategy has a supportive environment that is backed by a global mega-trend which includes population growth, environmental constraints, supportive regulations, urbanisation rate and global wealth creation. We have a diversified exposure to 45-49 names to limit risk. The fund has a relatively defensive profile, with companies that are less exposed to the risk of a significant economic slowdown and are a play on sanitation benefits. Most regulated water names benefit from full pass-through of costs. Given the current situation, it is important to keep a balanced portfolio. The key for us is to identify our strongest conviction companies and increase their weightings without dramatically altering anything in the portfolio.
