WCM Investment Management’s Portfolio Update (April 30, 2019)

WCM Investment Management, a Laguna Beach, California-based hedge fund, recently released its Q1 2019 Investor Letter, a copy of which you can download below. This is an investment manager that has a long history as it was founded back in 1976. The fund utilizes three types of analyses to find appropriate stocks for its portfolios – technical, quantitative, and fundamental – while relying on external research to complete its investment process. In the letter, it reported a return of 3.8% for its WCM Global Growth Limited fund for the month of April 2019, little behind its benchmark MSCI All Country World (ex-Australia) Index, which gained 4.2% in the same month. It also reported WCM Global Growth Limited fund since inception (June 2017) annualized return of 18.26%, outperforming MSCI All Country World (ex-Australia) Index, which delivered 13.40% in the same period.

“PORTFOLIO UPDATE

The portfolio had another very strong month of performance, with a return of 3.8%. This was slightly below the 4.2% return of its benchmark MSCI All Country World (ex-Australia) Index. However, the portfolio has delivered returns well in excess of the benchmark over the previous three, six and 12 months.

Following on from a strong first quarter, global equity markets continued to move higher in April. The primary macroeconomic drivers of this strong performance have been the more accommodative position adopted by the US Federal Reserve and signs of stabilisation in Chinese economic growth.

The first quarter corporate earnings season has, thus far, proved to be a positive for markets, with early indications being that aggregate earnings will exceed analyst forecasts.

At a regional level, Eurozone equities led the way followed by the US. The Chinese equity market, which was one of the strongest performers in the first quarter, gave up some ground in April.

In terms of sectors it was a positive month for some of the more cyclical parts of the market including consumer discretionary and industrials. Defensive sectors on the other hand, including healthcare and consumer staples, underperformed in April.”

The largest positive contributors to returns in April for the portfolio included Swedish industrial group Atlas Copco, Canadian ecommerce specialist Shopify and French ophthalmic firm Essilor.

You can download WCM Investment Management’s Portfolio Update (April 30 2019) here:

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You can also see the list of our 2019 Q1 investor letters and download them on this page.