In focus
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concept that changes the rules for
everything.
“It changes the rules for investors
because they need to think about
what happens next.”
It is too early to judge the
performance of Lazard Global
Thematic Focus. However, Lazard
Global Thematic has made 140.9 per
cent since launch in October 2007
compared with 166.83 per cent from
the MSCI World index.
FACT BOX
MANAGERS: Steve Wreford, Nicholas Bratt & John King / LAUNCHED: 10/03/2020 /
FUND SIZE: $17.3m / AMC: 1%
CROWN RATING
N/A
PERFORMANCE OF FUND VS SECTOR & INDEX SINCE LAUNCH
MSCI World Lazard Global IA Global
(166.83%) Thematic (140.9) (114.52%)
200%
150%
100%
50%
0%
-50%
L
and people think it’s going to go to
the moon.
“But actually, technology is
connected by an elastic band to the
rest of the world and eventually the
rest of the world catches up – and that
means that regulation will, too. Public
attitudes towards these companies are
going to change. People are worried
about the power that they have.”
As a result, Wreford is making a
more focused play within the tech
sector on artificial intelligence (AI).
The second trend is sustainability as
people become more conscious about
climate change and their own impact
on the environment.
Third is geopolitics, where there is
the potential for heightened risk over
multi-lateral issues such as trade.
“It matters a great deal for
companies who have spent a quarter
of a century outsourcing everything
they do to China and Asia,” said
Wreford. “Now that framework of
Lazard Global
Thematic Focus
stability is under threat, so we have to
think about what will replace it.”
Last up is monetary policy. The
manager said that a decade of ultra-low
interest rates is likely to have changed
people’s attitudes towards money.
“If it’s zero per cent interest,
that means money is free. And if
something is free, it’s usually not
worth anything,” he added.
“What if money isn’t worth anything
anymore? That is a very dramatic
This fund aims to tap into four “cornerstone” themes: technology,
sustainability, geopolitics and monetary policy
aunched earlier this year,
the Lazard Global Thematic
Focus fund aims to tap into
structural themes that will shape the
global economy over the next decade.
“Profound transformations are
taking place in the global economy,
as digitisation becomes universal
and environmental threats, societal
anxieties and regulation gain ever-
greater prominence,” said Lazard.
The fund is headed up by Steve
Wreford, Nicholas Bratt and John
King, who also run Lazard Global
Thematic. They invest in four
cornerstone themes, the first of
which is technology.
While Wreford believes the
technology sector will be one of the
“tent poles” holding up the global
economy in a decade’s time, it won’t
be through the stocks that everybody
is investing in now.
“Technology is like a rocket ship,”
the manager explained. “It takes off
[ FUND ]
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Source: FE Analytics
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