Montrusco Bolton taps European market through Universal Investment

Canadian asset management firm Montrusco Bolton taps the European investment market with a Global Equities fund aimed at retail as well as professional investors. The strategy has been launched in collaboration with Universal Investment in Luxembourg and offers a quality growth portfolio with ESG integration into the investment process. The fundamental, bottom-up investment process results in a high-conviction portfolio of 35 to 40 holdings and aims to outperform the fund’s benchmark, the MSCI World Index. The current portfolio manager has been successfully running this strategy for institutional investors in Canada since 2009.

As the firm aims to continue its success story across the pond, the Montreal headquartered asset manager and PRI signatory has chosen Universal-Investment as the fund’s management company to further accelerate their growth in Europe. The ever-increasing regulatory substance requirements as well as Universal Investment’s distribution capabilities were decisive factors for Montrusco Bolton. The UI I – Montrusco Bolton Global Equity Fund has been available for investors from Germany and Austria since April 21 and will be made available to other European countries in due course.

Montrusco Bolton’s Global Equity team members consider themselves business experts and focus on generating alpha from stock selection. Their Quality Growth investment universe helps them pick companies that are well positioned to grow longer-term, and which have pricing power (think of the Porter’s five forces). In the investment process, target equities undergo a rigorous fundamental analysis as well as risk assessment and must score high in Montrusco Bolton’s proprietary sustainability scorecard that focuses on six pillars. Through the norm-based exclusion of non-ethical companies and those generating more than five per cent of their revenue from the production and distribution of adult entertainment and gambling, mining, nuclear energy, tobacco and alcohol, weapons and/or their essential components, risks in the portfolio are further reduced. The portfolio management team also actively engages with the management teams of the companies they invest in.

Montrusco Bolton takes a long-term investment approach. The investment team’s goal is to build an attractive risk-return portfolio, reducing systematic volatility by minimizing sector and country deviations. They do not take risks where they do not have a competitive advantage.

Montrusco Bolton manages about USD 8 bn in equities and alternative investments today. The launch of UI I – Montrusco Bolton Global Equity Fund is the firm’s first offering to professional and retail investors in Europe. The fund launch marks the start of a long-term partnership between both firms. With continuing success, further strategies are to be launched with Universal Investment.

About Montrusco Bolton

Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. is a Canadian boutique asset manager, firmly established with roots tracing back to 1946, with approximately USD 8 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2022. Headquartered in Montreal, the firm has an entrepreneurial culture with long-term strategic partners, a robust infrastructure and a sound governance, as well as a diversified investment offering. The company is privately owned and independent and serves institutional clients in North America, Europe and Asia. Montrusco Bolton has been a signatory of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment since 2011.