Aegon Equities Flash Report
See below for the August Equity Funds performance and positioning information*.

 

Fund

Fund (%)

Benchmark (%)

Aegon Global Equity Income Fund

0.62

MSCI World AC index (GBP)

0.25

Aegon Sustainable Equity Fund

0.97

Sector median

0.22

Aegon Global Sustainable Equity Fund

0.62

MSCI World AC Index (GBP)

0.25

Aegon Ethical Equity Fund

-0.71

Sector median

0.31
Equity market backdrop
  • A volitile start -  While global equity markets made decent gains in August, the month started with a startling spike in volatility, when two weaker-than-expected US data points (manufacturing and jobs data) sparked fears of a recession. This sent the CBOE Volatility Index (‘VIX’) also known as Wall Street’s ‘Fear Guage’ soaring and it recorded its highest ever intraday jump, as well as its highest intraday level outside of the GFC and COVID periods.  

  • US Fed rate cut expectations boost markets - The volatility was short lived though and the prospect of the US Federal Reserve easing interest rates faster than previously expected and the release of more reassuring macro data points as the month wore on combined to pull markets back into positive territory. 

  • Rate sensitive sectors outperformed - At the sector level, rate sensitive areas like real estate and utilities outperformed on the prospect of faster rate cuts, with health care and staples also doing well. In contrast, the slowing economic backdrop weighed on commodity prices and saw energy and basic materials underperform. 
Aegon Global Equity Income Fund

 

  • The fund continued to offer a solid income premium to the MSCI ACWI.

  • The best performer was AstraZeneca, with recent results showing solid growth and an upgrade in guidance.

  • Spanish fashion retailer Inditex (known for its Zara brand) rallied with positive broker updates supporting performance.

  • It was also a good month for our financials holdings with CME Group, Allianz and Macquarie Group all re-rating.

  • In contrast, semi-conductor specialist Tokyo Electron was the largest detractor, due to the sharp sell-off in Japan in early August.

  • Reflecting the market environment, fellow tech holdings Samsung Electronics, Broadcom and Microsoft hindered on a relative basis too.

  • Lastly, US industrial Watsco also reversed on mixed results, giving back some of its strong year-to-date gains.  
Visit the Aegon Global Equity Income Fund page
Aegon global sustainable equity funds

Our global sustainable equity strategy is available to investors through the UK-domiciled Aegon Sustainable Equity Fund and the Irish-domiciled Aegon Global Sustainable Equity Fund.

  • JMDC, a Japanese company that uses big data to improve efficiency and decision making in healthcare, benfited from good results, which showed solid growth in underlying revenues and EBITDA.

  • Application performance measurement firm Dynatrace also jumped on a very impressive set of numbers, which beat expectations on all key metrics.

  • Innovative medical testing firm Veracyte rallied after revenues and profitability came in significantly ahead of consensus, driven by materially higher testing volumes.

  • In contrast, OLED specialist Universal Display Corp fell back although its results were only a touch short of consensus, as they were for Advanced Drainage Systems.

  • Lastly, Essential Utilities missed out on the rally in the utilities sector, as warmer weather in the US caused its results to come in a little below expectations, although management stated that it expects to exceed full-year guidance.
  •  

 

Visit the Aegon Sustainable Equity Fund Fund page >

Visit the Aegon Global Sustainable Equity Fund page >

Aegon global sustainable equity funds ratings

Aegon Ethical Equity Fund
  • The fund’s lack of exposure to the low beta defensive sectors of consumer staples and health care detracted.

  • Some ground was made back by the zero weighting to energy, which was the worst performing sector in the UK market.

  • Retirement income specialist Just Group was the top contributor, given its excellent set of H1 numbers combined with a positive outlook.

  • Results from London Stock Exchange Group were also positive; revenue growth was in line with expectations and showed an acceleration from Q1, while revenue synergies continue to accrue from the acquisition of Refinitiv.

  • Stocks exposed to UK homebuilding, including Bellway and Volution, continued to benefit from the optimism brought about by the new government’s pledges to simplify planning permission.

  • Water and ventilation piping provider Genuit gave back some of the gains from a strong July.

  • The market took poorly to Clarkson’s interim results which were slightly short of expectations, although the investment case does not appear to have changed.

  • Oxford Instruments and Ferguson also detracted, although there was no material stock specific news in either case.

Aegon Ethical Equity Fund ratings

Visit the Aegon Ethical Equity Fund page

*Source: Lipper as at 31 August 2024. NAV to NAV, noon prices, income reinvested, net of ongoing charges, excluding entry or exit charges. Performance for the Aegon Global Equity Income Fund is for the C Inc GBP share class. Performance for the Aegon Global Sustainable Equity Fund is for the B Acc GBP share class. Performance for the Aegon Sustainable Equity Fund is for the B Acc GBP share class. Performance for the Aegon Ethical Equity Fund is for the B Acc GBP share class.

 

The performance benchmark for the Aegon Global Equity Income Fund and the Aegon Global Sustainable Equity Fund is the MSCI All Countries World Index GBP. Index benchmarks have close of day prices. For the Aegon Sustainable Equity Fund: Investors are invited to compare the Fund’s performance against the performance of other funds within the Investment Association Global Sector. For the Aegon Ethical Equity Fund: Investors are invited to compare the Fund’s performance against the performance of other funds within the Investment Association UK All Companies Sector. Comparison of the Fund against this Sector will give investors an indication of how the Fund is performing compared with Funds investing in a similar but not identical investment universe. This comparison should be performed over at least a 7-year period to provide the most useful long-term comparison.

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Risks

The main risks of investing in these funds are:

 

Liquidity

Other markets

Concentration

Foreign exchange

Strategic Global Bond Fund

 ✘ ✘ ✘ ✘

High Yield Global Bond Fund

 ✘ ✘ ✘ ✘


For more information on the risks involved with these funds please see the Prospectus/KIID.

Calendar Year Performance (%)

Calendar Year Performance (%)

Source: Lipper as at 31 December 2023. NAV to NAV, noon prices, income reinvested, net of ongoing charges, excluding entry or exit charges. Performance for the Aegon Global Equity Income Fund is for the C Inc GBP share class. Performance for the Aegon Global Sustainable Equity Fund is for the B Acc GBP share class, the Fund launched 21 April 2016. The performance benchmark for the Aegon Global Equity Income Fund and the Aegon Global Sustainable Equity Fund is the MSCI All Countries World Index GBP.

For Professional Clients only and not to be distributed to or relied upon by retail clients.


This is a marketing communication. Please refer to the Prospectus of the UCITS and to the KIID before making any final investment decisions. The relevant documents can be found at aegonam.com. The principal risk of this product is the loss of capital.

Past performance does not predict future returns. Outcomes, including the payment of income, are not guaranteed.

Opinions and/or example trades/securities represent our understanding of markets both current and historical and are used to promote Aegon Asset Management's investment management capabilities: they are not investment recommendations, research or advice. Sources used are deemed reliable by Aegon Asset Management at the time of writing. Please note that this marketing is not prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research, and is not subject to any prohibition on dealing by Aegon Asset Management or its employees ahead of its publication.

Fund Charges are taken from income but will be taken from capital where income is insufficient to cover charges, except the Aegon High Yield Bond Fund where the fund charges are deducted from capital which has the effect of increasing income distributions but constraining capital growth.

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