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View NowPast performance does not predict future returns. You may get back less than you originally invested. Reference to specific securities is not intended as a recommendation to purchase or sell any investment.
- During Q2 2025, global financial markets experienced a volatile but ultimately positive period, shaped by evolving policy dynamics, geopolitical trade shifts, and resilient macroeconomic indicators
- Top performers for the quarter included Spotify, Topicus and ASM International. AutoStore and Alcon were among the detractors.
- We added a new position in Atlas Copco, the global leader in compressor and vacuum technology, while exiting AutoStore and Trustpilot.
The Fund delivered a return of 5.8% over the period in euro terms, versus the MSCI Europe Index’s 2.5% return (which is the comparator benchmark)*.
During Q2 2025, global financial markets experienced a volatile but ultimately positive period, shaped by evolving policy dynamics, geopolitical trade shifts, and resilient macroeconomic indicators. The quarter began with a spike in volatility in April, triggered by Donald Trump’s unexpected declaration of “Liberation Day” tariffs.
However, market sentiment began to stabilise following the introduction of a 90-day suspension on the proposed tariffs, which helped ease concerns and support a gradual rebound as the month progressed.
The positive momentum carried into May, with European equities continuing to recover. Confidence was further boosted by Trump's decision to delay the implementation of tariffs on European imports, which significantly improved the outlook across eurozone markets.
It was an encouraging quarter for the Fund. The portfolio remain focused on mid-cap, high-quality growth companies that are aligned with our sustainable investment themes. Our analysis indicates that these businesses continue to offer compelling long-term growth prospects, yet they are currently trading at a meaningful discount to their historical valuation averages. While we welcome the recent period of strong performance, we believe this represents only the beginning of a much broader opportunity.
Spotify (+31%) continued its strong performance with its Q1 2025 results reflecting robust user and subscriber growth, with monthly active users (MAUs) rising 10% year-over-year to 678 million and premium subscribers increasing 12% to 268 million. Revenue climbed 15% year-over-year to €4.2 billion. However, both earnings per share (EPS) and total revenue came in slightly below analyst expectations. Despite the shortfall, CEO Daniel Ek underscored the platform’s resilience amid economic uncertainty and highlighted strong user engagement and retention as key strengths supporting long-term momentum.
While Spotify primarily fits into our Encouraging sustainable leisure theme, it also contributes to resource efficiency as it has effectively dematerialised much of the physical material consumption used to listen to music such as CD players or vinyl. This has been a rewarding position as we have held the shares for approaching five years now, and experienced a significant drawdown following the pandemic before the shares started to perform.
Another strong contributor was Topicus.com (+20%), a company focused on acquiring, managing, and developing vertical market software businesses, held under our theme of improving the resource efficiency of industrial and agricultural processes.
In its Q1 2025 earnings report, Topicus demonstrated continued momentum in its growth trajectory within the software sector. The company reported a 16% year-over-year increase in revenue, reaching €355.6 million, with organic growth accounting for 4% of this uplift. Net income rose markedly to €38.8 million, reflecting a significant improvement over the same period last year.
ASM International (+35%) shares gained following a stronger-than-expected first quarter, driven by robust demand for chipmaking equipment in AI-related segments and resilient sales in China. The company reported a 14% year-on-year increase in orders at constant currency, reaching €834 million ($951 million) for the three months ending in March. Held under our Improving the efficiency of energy use theme, ASM is the market leader in Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) manufacturing tools for the semiconductor industry. ALD is a critical process for customers to produce chips in a Gate-All -Around (GAA) architecture, which enables an improvement in energy efficiency of approximately 25%
We were particularly encouraged by ASM International’s strong performance this quarter, following our recent decision to add the company to the portfolio as part of our strategy to increase exposure to the AI theme. We continue to believe that company remains well positioned for next phase on the technology shift in semi-conductors, as its market share will increase as ALD becomes the prevalent technology on leading edge chips.
We participated in the IPO of Asker, a Swedish provider of medical products and solutions. The company is well aligned with our investment theme of Providing affordable healthcare as it aims to improve patient outcomes, reduce costs, and ensure a fair and sustainable supply chain. Encouragingly, the stock delivered a strong performance during the period, appreciating by nearly 50% since listing.
AutoStore (-43%), a leading player in warehouse automation, reported a challenging first quarter of 2025, with revenues falling to $86 million – a sharp 48% decline from the previous quarter and down 38% year-over-year. The company attributed this downturn to persistent macroeconomic uncertainty, which continues to weigh on capital investment decisions across its client base.
We decided to exit our position in AutoStore on competition-for-capital grounds. The company is currently undergoing a transition in its business model, but communication around this shift has been limited and unclear. Given the uncertainty surrounding the pace of demand recovery and the evolving model, we chose to reallocate the capital to ICON – a leading Contract Research Organisation (CRO), which experienced a comparable share price decline but presents a more compelling risk-adjusted return profile and a clearer path to recovery.
Alcon (-11%) shares fell following disappointing first-quarter results that missed expectations across all key metrics. Held under our Enabling healthier lifestyles theme, the Swiss eyecare company’s earnings report underscored weaker-than-anticipated performance, triggering a sharp negative market reaction. Although Alcon raised its full-year guidance on a reported basis, the underlying outlook was revised downward, suggesting more cautious expectations beneath the headline figures.
We exited our position in Trustpilot following a strong performance, with the share price having doubled from our average entry point. The decision was driven by asset allocation considerations, as we looked to reallocate capital towards larger-cap opportunities within the portfolio.
In terms of new buys, we added a position in Atlas Copco, the global leader in compressor and vacuum technology, under our Improving the efficiency of energy use theme. Both technologies are ubiquitous necessities in many manufacturing processes, and equipment providers compete on the efficiency of equipment due to energy making up the majority of the total cost of ownership. Atlas Copco has revolutionised the industry multiple times with variable speed drive technologies, which provide significant energy, and in turn cost and emissions savings.
Discrete years' performance (%) to previous quarter-end**:
|
|
Jun-25 |
Jun-24 |
Jun-23 |
Jun-22 |
Jun-21 |
|
Liontrust GF SF Pan-European Growth Fund A1 Acc |
5.4% |
9.6% |
5.9% |
-22.5% |
29.4% |
|
MSCI Europe |
8.1% |
13.7% |
16.7% |
-6.5% |
27.9% |
|
|
Jun-20 |
Jun-19 |
Jun-18 |
Jun-17 |
Jun-16 |
|
Liontrust GF SF Pan-European Growth Fund A1 Acc |
8.1% |
1.0% |
1.1% |
17.6% |
-12.1% |
|
MSCI Europe |
-5.5% |
4.5% |
2.8% |
18.0% |
-11.0% |
* Source: FE Analytics, as at 30.06.25, total return, net of fees and income reinvested
** Source: FE Analytics, as at 30.06.25, primary share class, total return, net of fees and income reinvested
Key Features of the Liontrust GF SF Pan-European Growth Fund
KEY RISKS
Past performance does not predict future returns. You may get back less than you originally invested.
We recommend this fund is held long term (minimum period of 5 years). We recommend that you hold this fund as part of a diversified portfolio of investments.
- All investments will be expected to conform to our social and environmental criteria.
- Overseas investments may carry a higher currency risk. They are valued by reference to their local currency which may move up or down when compared to the currency of the Fund.
- The Fund may, under certain circumstances, invest in derivatives, but it is not intended that their use will materially affect volatility. Derivatives are used to protect against currencies, credit and interest rate moves or for investment purposes. There is a risk that losses could be made on derivative positions or that the counterparties could fail to complete on transactions. The use of derivatives may create leverage or gearing resulting in potentially greater volatility or fluctuations in the net asset value of the Fund. A relatively small movement in the value of a derivative's underlying investment may have a larger impact, positive or negative, on the value of a fund than if the underlying investment was held instead. The use of derivative contracts may help us to control Fund volatility in both up and down markets by hedging against the general market.
- The Fund may encounter liquidity constraints from time to time. The spread between the price you buy and sell shares will reflect the less liquid nature of the underlying holdings.
- Outside of normal conditions, the Fund may hold higher levels of cash which may be deposited with several credit counterparties (e.g. international banks). A credit risk arises should one or more of these counterparties be unable to return the deposited cash.
- Counterparty Risk: any derivative contract, including FX hedging, may be at risk if the counterparty fails.
The issue of units/shares in Liontrust Funds may be subject to an initial charge, which will have an impact on the realisable value of the investment, particularly in the short term. Investments should always be considered as long term.
DISCLAIMER
This material is issued by Liontrust Investment Partners LLP (2 Savoy Court, London WC2R 0EZ), authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 518552) to undertake regulated investment business.
It should not be construed as advice for investment in any product or security mentioned, an offer to buy or sell units/shares of Funds mentioned, or a solicitation to purchase securities in any company or investment product. Examples of stocks are provided for general information only to demonstrate our investment philosophy. The investment being promoted is for units in a fund, not directly in the underlying assets.
This information and analysis is believed to be accurate at the time of publication, but is subject to change without notice. Whilst care has been taken in compiling the content, no representation or warranty is given, whether express or implied, by Liontrust as to its accuracy or completeness, including for external sources (which may have been used) which have not been verified.
This is a marketing communication. Before making an investment, you should read the relevant Prospectus and the Key Investor Information Document (KIID) and/or PRIIP/KID, which provide full product details including investment charges and risks. These documents can be obtained, free of charge, from www.liontrust.com or direct from Liontrust. If you are not a professional investor please consult a regulated financial adviser regarding the suitability of such an investment for you and your personal circumstances.
A collective redress mechanism by consumers in respect of infringements of applicable Irish or EU laws is available under the Representative Actions for the Protection of the Collective Interests of Consumers Act 2023 which transposes Directive (EU) 2020/1828 into Irish law. Further information on this collective redress mechanism is available from Representative Actions Act - DETE (enterprise.gov.ie).
Understand common financial words and termsSee our glossary
The Fund aims to maximise total returns (a combination of income and capital growth) over the long term (five years or more) through investment in sustainable securities, primarily consisting of European investment grade fixed income securities. The Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in bonds issued by companies which are denominated in Euro or non-Euro corporate bonds that are hedged back into Euros. The focus is on investment grade corporate bonds (i.e. those which meet a specified level of creditworthiness). The Fund invests in companies that provide or produce more sustainable products and services as well as having a more progressive approach to the management of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. Although the focus is on investment grade corporate bonds, the Fund may also invest in government bonds, high yield bonds, cash or assets that can be turned into cash quickly. Where the Fund invests in non-Euro assets, the currency exposure of these investments will generally be hedged back to Euro. Up to 10% of the Fund's currency exposure may not be hedged, i.e. the Fund may be exposed to the risks of investing in another currency for up to 10% of its assets. The Fund may invest both directly, and through the use of derivatives. The use of derivatives may generate market leverage (i.e. where the Fund takes market exposure in excess of the value of its assets). The Fund has both Hedged and Unhedged share classes available. The Hedged share classes use forward foreign exchange contracts to protect returns in the base currency of the Fund.
5 years or more.
3 (Please refer to the Fund KIID for further detail on how this is calculated)
Active
The Fund is considered to be actively managed in reference to IBOXX Euro Corporate All Maturities (the "Benchmark") by virtue of the fact that it uses the benchmark(s) for performance comparison purposes. The benchmark(s) are not used to define the portfolio composition of the Fund and the Fund may be wholly invested in securities which are not constituents of the benchmark.
The Fund is a financial product subject to Article 9 of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). You can learn more about our implementation of the SFDR here.
KEY RISKS
Past performance does not predict future returns. You may get back less than you originally invested.
We recommend this fund is held long term (minimum period of 5 years). We recommend that you hold this fund as part of a diversified portfolio of investments.
- All investments will be expected to conform to our social and environmental criteria.
- Overseas investments may carry a higher currency risk. They are valued by reference to their local currency which may move up or down when compared to the currency of the Fund.
- The Fund, may in certain circumstances, invest in derivatives but it is not intended that their use will materially affect volatility. Derivatives are used to protect against currencies, credit and interest rate moves or for investment purposes. The use of derivatives may create leverage or gearing resulting in potentially greater volatility or fluctuations in the net asset value of the Fund. A relatively small movement in the value of a derivative's underlying investment may have a larger impact, positive or negative, on the value of a fund than if the underlying investment was held instead.
- Credit Counterparty Risk: Outside of normal conditions, the Fund may hold higher levels of cash which may be deposited with several credit counterparties (e.g. international banks). A credit risk arises should one or more of these counterparties be unable to return the deposited cash.
- Liquidity Risk: the Fund may encounter liquidity constraints from time to time. The spread between the price you buy and sell shares will reflect the less liquid nature of the underlying holdings.
- ESG Risk: there may be limitations to the availability, completeness or accuracy of ESG information from third-party providers, or inconsistencies in the consideration of ESG factors across different third party data providers, given the evolving nature of ESG.
The issue of units/shares in Liontrust Funds may be subject to an initial charge, which will have an impact on the realisable value of the investment, particularly in the short term. Investments should always be considered as long term.
DISCLAIMER
This material is issued by Liontrust Investment Partners LLP (2 Savoy Court, London WC2R 0EZ), authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 518552) to undertake regulated investment business.
It should not be construed as advice for investment in any product or security mentioned, an offer to buy or sell units/shares of Funds mentioned, or a solicitation to purchase securities in any company or investment product. Examples of stocks are provided for general information only to demonstrate our investment philosophy. The investment being promoted is for units in a fund, not directly in the underlying assets.
This information and analysis is believed to be accurate at the time of publication, but is subject to change without notice. Whilst care has been taken in compiling the content, no representation or warranty is given, whether express or implied, by Liontrust as to its accuracy or completeness, including for external sources (which may have been used) which have not been verified.
This is a marketing communication. Before making an investment, you should read the relevant Prospectus and the Key Investor Information Document (KIID) and/or PRIIP/KID, which provide full product details including investment charges and risks. These documents can be obtained, free of charge, from www.liontrust.com or direct from Liontrust. If you are not a professional investor please consult a regulated financial adviser regarding the suitability of such an investment for you and your personal circumstances.
