Investor Summary
Fund Strategy
FUND PERFORMANCE AS OF 31st December 2025
| ANNUALIZED SINCE INCEPTION | QUARTERLY | YTD |
|---|---|---|
| 10.5% | 8.5% | 36.2% |
| 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|
| 42.1% | 13.4% |
| ANNUALIZED SINCE INCEPTION | QUARTERLY | YTD |
|---|---|---|
| 10.5% | 8.5% | 36.2% |
| 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|
| 42.1% | 13.4% |
Hardman Johnston International Equity delivered positive absolute returns of 4.34% net in Q4 2025 but modestly underperformed benchmarks, primarily due to stock selection. Healthcare and Financials led sector performance, with Sandoz benefiting from biosimilar growth and regulatory tailwinds, AstraZeneca securing favorable U.S. pricing agreements, and Standard Chartered driving strong earnings through wealth management expansion. Defense holdings like Rheinmetall faced short-term pressure from Ukraine peace deal speculation despite unchanged long-term fundamentals. The manager initiated Weir Group to capitalize on the improving mining cycle while exiting Nexans and Deutsche Telekom due to competitive and regulatory uncertainties. Looking forward, the team remains confident in their fundamental approach to identify growth opportunities while avoiding value traps. They see persistence in positive themes like global defense spending but remain cautious about AI concentration risk across portfolios. Despite unprecedented geopolitical turbulence, they view the current environment as rich with opportunity for companies with visible, predictable growth and durable competitive advantages.
Focus on high-quality international businesses with durable competitive advantages and attractive long-term risk-adjusted return potential, leveraging fundamental analysis to identify resilient companies capable of delivering outperformance across market cycles in an environment of global turbulence and geopolitical uncertainty.
The manager expresses confidence in their ability to identify growth and avoid value traps to deliver long-term outperformance. They see persistence in positive themes like increased global defense spending while remaining cautious around AI concentration risk. Despite unprecedented global turbulence and geopolitical uncertainty, they view this as an environment rich with opportunity, focusing on fundamentals and visible, predictable growth to identify resilient companies capable of delivering outperformance across market cycles.
| Date | Letter | Tickers | Keywords | Pitches | Quick Takes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 14 2026 | 2025 Q4 | 0700.HK, 7011.T, AMZN, AZN, DTE.DE, GE, LDO.MI, MELI, NEX.PA, NVO, PRX.AS, PRY.MI, RHM.DE, SDZ, SIE.DE, STAN.L, TMUS, VZ, WEIR.L | AI, Asia, defense, Europe, financials, healthcare, international, Mining |
SDZ SW AZN STAN LN RHM GR 7011 JP MELI WEIR LN NEX FP DTE GR |
The portfolio maintains exposure to defense companies like Rheinmetall AG despite short-term volatility from Ukraine-Russia peace deal speculation. Management sees structural shift toward increased defense… |
| Oct 21 2025 | 2025 Q3 | 6501 JP, 7269 JP, DTE GR, HDFCB IN, ICICIBC IN, IFX GR, MELI, NVO, PRX NA, PRY IM, SDZ SW, STM, TEAM, TSM, UCB BB | AI, Europe, healthcare, International Equities, semiconductors |
UCB SDZ PROS SUZUKI |
The fund benefited from strong stock selection in Europe and Asia, led by AI-related semiconductor names like TSMC and STMicroelectronics. Healthcare and consumer discretionary sectors… |
| Jul 17 2025 | 2025 Q2 | 7011 JP, 7269 JP, 8750 JP, AZN LN, CBK GR, DTE GR, IFX GR, MC FP, RHM GR, TSM | earnings resilience, Global Growth, Industrial Recovery, Pricing Power, stock selection |
CBK GR 8750 JP DTE GR IFX GR RHM GR 7269 JP TSM |
The letter emphasizes durable international earnings growth supported by strong balance sheets, pricing power, and structural demand drivers outside the U.S. Management highlights selective exposure… |
| Mar 31 2025 | 2025 Q1 | 7011 JP, ASML NA, CDIIQ, FTI, MELI, NVO, PRX NA, RHM GR, STAN LN, TSM | - | - | - |
| Dec 31 2024 | 2024 Q4 | 8750 JP, AZN LN, MC FP, MELI, NEX FP, NOD NO, NVO, SDZ SW, STAN LN, TEAM, TSM, UCB BB | - | - | - |
| Sep 30 2024 | 2024 Q3 | 1299 HK, 7011 JP, 8750 JP, 8795 JP, ASML, HDB, MELI, NEX FP, NOD NO, NVO, PRX NA, PRY IM | - | - | - |
| QUARTER | THEMES | TAGS |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 Q4 |
AIAI has become a dominant theme across major equity indices, with Nvidia leading the S&P 500, ASML dominating MSCI EAFE, and TSMC leading emerging markets. The fund benefited from AI-related dynamics, particularly through Samsung's memory products experiencing substantial price increases due to DRAM shortages driven by AI demand. |
Semiconductors Memory DRAM Technology Nvidia |
BiosimilarsSandoz Group benefits from strong biosimilar growth with streamlined U.S. regulatory guidance moving closer to EU model. This regulatory shift reduces development costs, enabling reinvestment into pipeline expansion and acceleration of future programs. The company plans to launch generic semaglutide in Canada in 2026 as a test case for larger global opportunities. |
Sandoz Regulatory Pipeline Semaglutide Development | |
Defense SpendingCanada announced significant defense spending increases to reach 2% NATO target in 2026 and 5% of GDP by 2035, representing a potential sea change in investment levels. This shift from past decade of neglecting NATO spending requirements creates substantial infrastructure investment opportunities. |
NATO Military Infrastructure Budget Equipment | |
MiningMultiple mining holdings across metals including copper, gold, silver, tin, and uranium. Baker Steel Resources Trust contains significant exposure to copper developers, gold royalties, and tungsten projects. Power Metal Resources holds uranium and copper projects with royalties and blockchain mining ventures. |
Copper Gold Silver Uranium Tungsten | |
Wealth ManagementThe fund highlights the structural growth in wealth advisory despite declining numbers of financial advisers. Next generation wealth platform providers like HUB24 and Netwealth are capturing over 90% of incremental industry flows by offering modern platforms that enhance adviser efficiency and scalability, while incumbent providers have underinvested in systems. |
Wealth Platforms Financial Advisers Industry Flows Efficiency Scalability | |
| 2025 Q3 |
AIAI has become a dominant theme across major equity indices, with Nvidia leading the S&P 500, ASML dominating MSCI EAFE, and TSMC leading emerging markets. The fund benefited from AI-related dynamics, particularly through Samsung's memory products experiencing substantial price increases due to DRAM shortages driven by AI demand. |
Semiconductors Memory DRAM Technology Nvidia |
InternationalInternational stocks significantly outperformed their domestic counterparts in 2025, and the less expensive portions of the market did particularly well. International companies offer an important counterbalance to the richness of the broader U.S. market when selectively chosen and are beneficial from a diversification perspective. |
MSCI ACWI Outperformance Diversification Ex-US | |
SemiconductorsTaiwan Semiconductor represents the dominant manufacturer for leading fabless chip designers including NVIDIA, Apple, and Broadcom. The global arms race to develop artificial general intelligence will support multiple years of robust growth for foundries with leading-edge capabilities. |
Foundries Advanced Process AI Chips Manufacturing Technology Leadership | |
| 2025 Q2 |
Growth |
| Date | Pitch Type | Author | Ticker | Company | Industry | Sub Industry | Bull / Bear | Exchange | Keywords | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 14, 2026 | Fund Letters | Cassandra A. Hardman | RHM GR | Rheinmetall AG | Industrials | Aerospace & Defense | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | backlog, Defense, growth, Procurement, visibility | Login |
| Jan 14, 2026 | Fund Letters | Cassandra A. Hardman | 7011 JP | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. | Industrials | Industrial Conglomerates | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | Defense, energy, Orders, Policy, Turbines | Login |
| Oct 21, 2025 | Fund Letters | Cassandra A. Hardman | UCB | UCB S.A. | Financials | Biotechnology | Bull | Shanghai Stock Exchange | Bimzelx, Biotech, capacity expansion, Hs, Immunology, pipeline | Login |
| Jan 14, 2026 | Fund Letters | Cassandra A. Hardman | MELI | MercadoLibre Inc. | Consumer Discretionary | Internet & Direct Marketing Retail | Bull | NASDAQ | Competition, Fintech, Logistics, Margins, Reinvestment | Login |
| Oct 21, 2025 | Fund Letters | Cassandra A. Hardman | SDZ | Sandoz Group Ltd. | Health Care | Pharmaceuticals | Bull | Swiss Exchange | Biosimilars, Generics, GLP-1, growth, pharmaceuticals, pipeline | Login |
| Jan 14, 2026 | Fund Letters | Cassandra A. Hardman | WEIR LN | Weir Group PLC | Industrials | Industrial Machinery | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | aftermarket, Copper, Margins, Mining, Software | Login |
| Oct 21, 2025 | Fund Letters | Cassandra A. Hardman | PROS | Prosus N.V. | Other | Internet & Direct Marketing Retail | Bull | Euronext Stock Exchange | AI, Ecosystem, Internet, NAV discount, restructuring, Tencent | Login |
| Jan 14, 2026 | Fund Letters | Cassandra A. Hardman | NEX FP | Nexans SA | Industrials | Electrical Equipment | Bear | Euronext Stock Exchange | Delays, Electrification, Execution, Projects, valuation | Login |
| Oct 21, 2025 | Fund Letters | Cassandra A. Hardman | SUZUKI | Suzuki Motor Corp. | Other | Automobiles | Bull | NYSE | automotive, Consumption, Gst cuts, Margins, Policy stimulus | Login |
| Jan 14, 2026 | Fund Letters | Cassandra A. Hardman | DTE GR | Deutsche Telekom AG | Communication Services | Integrated Telecommunication Services | Bear | Xetra | ARPU, cashflow, Competition, Margins, Telecom | Login |
| Jul 17, 2025 | Fund Letters | Cassandra A. Hardman | CBK GR | Commerzbank AG | Financials | Diversified Banks | Bull | XETRA | banking, dividends, Europe, turnaround, valuation | Login |
| Jul 17, 2025 | Fund Letters | Cassandra A. Hardman | 8750 JP | Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc. | Financials | Life & Health Insurance | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | Insurance, Interestrates, Japan, M&A, Rotation | Login |
| Jul 17, 2025 | Fund Letters | Cassandra A. Hardman | DTE GR | Deutsche Telekom AG | Communication Services | Integrated Telecommunication Services | Bull | XETRA | cashflow, dividends, infrastructure, rerating, Telecom | Login |
| Jul 17, 2025 | Fund Letters | Cassandra A. Hardman | IFX GR | Infineon Technologies AG | Information Technology | Semiconductors | Bull | XETRA | Autos, Cyclicality, Electrification, marketshare, semiconductors | Login |
| Jul 17, 2025 | Fund Letters | Cassandra A. Hardman | RHM GR | Rheinmetall AG | Industrials | Aerospace & Defense | Bull | XETRA | Ammunition, Defense, Europe, Joint venture, Rearmament | Login |
| Jul 17, 2025 | Fund Letters | Cassandra A. Hardman | 7269 JP | Suzuki Motor Corporation | Consumer Discretionary | Automobiles | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | Conservative, consumer, guidance, India, Macro | Login |
| Jul 17, 2025 | Fund Letters | Cassandra A. Hardman | TSM | Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. | Information Technology | Semiconductors | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | AI, Foundry, manufacturing, Monopoly, semiconductors | Login |
| Jan 14, 2026 | Fund Letters | Cassandra A. Hardman | SDZ SW | Sandoz Group Ltd. | Health Care | Pharmaceuticals | Bull | Swiss Exchange | Biosimilars, Generics, Glp1, pipeline, Regulation | Login |
| Jan 14, 2026 | Fund Letters | Cassandra A. Hardman | AZN | AstraZeneca PLC | Health Care | Pharmaceuticals | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | growth, Oncology, Phase3, pipeline, Policy | Login |
| Jan 14, 2026 | Fund Letters | Cassandra A. Hardman | STAN LN | Standard Chartered PLC | Financials | Diversified Banks | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | buybacks, emergingmarkets, Fees, ROE, Wealth | Login |
| TICKER | COMMENTARY |
|---|---|
| 0700.HK | Tencent was mentioned as one of the largest contributors in 2025. |
| 7011.T | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. underperformed during the quarter after the company reported a headline earnings miss. However, this included some one-off provisions and excluding these items, results were in line. More importantly, the company revised up its full year order guidance driven by the energy and A&D businesses. Some of the stock weakness was due to profit-taking given shares had been a very strong outperformer due to trends in the gas turbine and defense segments. Meanwhile, the implications from Investor Days at GE Vernova and Siemens Energy only confirmed the strong medium-term outlook for the company. Lastly, the election of Takaichi as Japan's next Prime Minister is supportive of continued defense spending, given her historically hawkish stance on national security. |
| AMZN | We added to our holdings in Amazon.com Inc. |
| AZN | World-class pharmaceutical and medical products manufacturer |
| GE | The IGBT—the power semiconductor that made modern motor control possible—was invented at General Electric by B. Jayant Baliga. Jack Welch sold GE's semiconductor division in 1988 |
| LDO.MI | Leonardo (LDO IM) GARP Compounder 77% Remains below peer average multiple. Added during risk-off moments, outperforming. Beyond the companies that we've already discussed, the rest of the portfolio is still anchored by CTT and Leonardo. While we are in quiet periods on both companies, the theses remain unchanged, and the commentary we provided in August of 2025 remains valid and on track. |
| MELI | E-commerce was another drag. Sea Limited and MercadoLibre struggled as investors became more cautious on discretionary spending and less willing to pay up for growth. |
| NVO | Novo Nordisk shares were a drag on the portfolio due to increased competition in the weight-loss drug market, resulting in reduced sales and profit growth outlooks. In December, the company announced FDA approval for its oral Wegovy pill, which could alter investor perception positively. |
| PRX.AS | Prosus is a core, long-term holding primarily valued for its substantial stake in Tencent, a company we believe has significant growth potential and a strong global competitive advantage. A key element of our thesis is that Prosus's current market capitalization is less than the value of its Tencent holding alone. In addition to the Tencent stake, Prosus holds an estimated $35 billion in other listed and unlisted assets. |
| RHM.DE | Our European Security position, Rheinmetall, also detracted from performance, as the market anticipated an end to the Russia and Ukraine conflict. In our view, this is only a short-term sentiment-related issue and should not change the medium-term defence spending programs in Europe. |
| SDZ | Sandoz's strong biosimilar growth supported a modest increase to 2025 guidance, reflecting continued execution across key launches. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released streamlined guidance for biosimilar regulatory requirements, moving the U.S. framework closer to the EU regulatory model and reducing complexity for developers. This regulatory shift is expected to lower development costs, enabling Sandoz to reinvest savings into pipeline expansion and accelerate future biosimilar programs. Biosimilar launches during 2025 performed in line with investor expectations, supporting confidence in the company's launch cadence and commercial execution. The generics business remains stable with 180 launches expected throughout 2025 – management is successfully managing any price erosion pressures. Sandoz plans to launch generic semaglutide (NovoNordisk's GLP-1) in Canada in 2026, using the market as a test case ahead of larger global opportunities as semaglutide patents expire in subsequent years. |
| SIE.DE | We exited Siemens, where the forward earnings multiple has re-rated to 20x versus an average of 15x over the last 10 years. |
| STAN.L | Standard Chartered was the largest contributor to the Fund's performance in 2025. It contributed 8.5% to NAV. Inclusive of dividends, the shares doubled in value. We took some gains towards the end of the year, selling $2mn worth of shares. We continue to trim the position as the shares rise. The success of Standard Chartered's turnaround became evident during the year. It is generating a decent return on equity. The bank is now well-placed to benefit from its strong position in high growth markets particularly leveraging its cross-border trade network in Corporate Banking as well as a compelling proposition in Wealth & Retail Banking. At the beginning of 2025, the shares traded at less than 0.7x book value. They now trade at 1.2x book value and 10.6x 2026 estimated earnings. The shares still trade below fair value and the company continues to buy back its own shares. |
| TMUS | T-MOBILE US INC detracted -0.32% from relative performance |
| VZ | In line EPS with a very slight miss on revenue. Postpaid phone losses were much less than expected. New CEO said the right things on the call, but investors are awaiting policies and results |
| WEIR.L | Weir is a leading global mining equipment company known for its high exposure to aftermarket (75% of sales), driving resilience through the cycle, with recurring demand from upstream ground engaging tools (excavator bucket "teeth") and mid-stream processing solutions such as slurry pumps which have a high replacement rate given its extreme usage. The global mining cycle remains supportive, with capex momentum improving after several years of troughing, underpinned by elevated commodity prices. In particular, the company's largest exposures are to copper (where demand drivers are secular) and gold (which tends to be found in similar deposits and where demand is also increasing due to geopolitics). Share price performance has historically been correlated with copper prices. While there is some debate on the split of capex between greenfield or brownfield, Weir is well positioned in any scenario. If greenfield capex materializes, it may represent a temporary OE mix margin headwind, but this only serves to grow the installed base, while sustained brownfield activity has positive earnings implications given Weir's high aftermarket exposure (which is higher-margin). Structural margin expansion continues, following the divestment of the more volatile Oil & Gas business in 2021. While the main cost-cutting program is largely complete, incremental efficiency gains persist, and the acquisition of MicroMine (software) is margin-accretive and improves revenue quality. Indeed, the software business of Weir is its fastest growing and highest margin business. Improved business mix supports higher-quality returns through the cycle, combining strong aftermarket exposure, software content, and disciplined capital allocation, positioning Weir well for sustained earnings growth. |
| Ticker | Put/Call | Amount Bought | Shares Bought | % Change | Weight % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Recent Buys Data | |||||
| Ticker | Put/Call | Amount Sold | Shares Sold | % Change | Weight % | Status |
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| No Recent Sells Data | ||||||
| Industry | Prev Quarter % | Current Quarter % | Change |
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| No industry data available | |||