The founder of Neptune Investment Management, Citywire AA-rated Robin Geffen, is regarded as “an extremely impressive and clear-thinking manager”, Tony Lanning of Origen tells Bloomberg Money. Geffen’s Global Equity Fund has been one of his firm’s most successful. Since launching at the end of 2001, it has become the second best-performing fund in the global growth sector. The £134m portfolio is concentrated in 30 stocks from around the world. A focus on Europe and emerging markets has seen it return 105% against the 44% sector average for the last three years.
The fund’s investments in energy and natural resources in emerging markets have done particularly well. Geffen is confident that despite the recent dip, the price of oil will support his Petrochina and Gazprom holdings.
He has also been building up exposure to consumer stocks. He is increasing his holding in Tesco, which has already returned 17% on the investment he made in June; and a number of consumer growth plays in emerging markets are also paying off. He counts China Life and China Mobile among the fund’s largest holdings.
Going forward, Geffen places a lot of faith in Russia. “Putin’s political legacy will be, among other things, a lasting stabilisation of over $100bn that can
be used to plan Russia’s economic prosperity way into the future,” he says in his monthly report. He expects a sizeable return from the sector in 2007.
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Neptune Global Equity Fund top ten holdings
Name of holding % of assets
China Life Insurance Co 4.2
HBOS 3.4
Xstrata 3.0
BG Group 2.9
Prudential 1.9
Scottish & Southern Energy 1.8
Homeserve 1.6
Inchcape 1.5
Victrex 1.5
Man Group 1.5