Liontrust GF Global Alpha Long Short Fund November 2025 review | Insights

Past 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.

Key highlights

Global equity market returns in November were subdued by revived valuation concerns around US mega-cap AI names.
The Fund saw strong alpha generation on the short side in November, offset by weakness across several long positions.
We remain confident in our barbell approach: high-quality structural compounders on the long side paired with rigorous short exposure across overvalued, structurally challenged, or liquidity dependent names.

Performance

The Liontrust GF Global Alpha Long Short Fund returned 0.3% in US dollar terms in November, compared with the 0.3% return of the Secured Overnight Financing Rate reference benchmark and the 0.0% return of the HFRX Equity Hedge (USD) Index, also a reference benchmark.

	1m	3m	6m	YTD	1yr	3yr	5yr	Since inception
Liontrust GF Global Alpha Long Short B8 Acc USD	0.3%	2.5%	6.6%	16.5%	13.1%	37.9%	30.0%	146.6%
FRB of New York Secured Overnight Financial Rate	0.3%	1.0%	2.1%	3.9%	4.3%	15.1%	16.6%	-
HFRX Equity Hedge	0.0%	2.2%	6.0%	9.0%	8.7%	25.6%	41.4%	54.7%

Commentary

Market backdrop

Despite a deal being reached to conclude the longest ever US government shutdown, global equity market returns were subdued in November.

Following strong year-to-date gains, valuation concerns regarding US mega-cap AI names mounted during the month, restricting the US S&P 500 and MSCI All-Country World indices to broadly flat performance.

Tech-heavy emerging markets such as Korea and Tawan saw a pullback. European equities were stronger, while Japan was a regional highlight as yen weakness supported export-oriented companies.

The UK market recorded a modest gain, with investors taking the Budget in their stride and digesting the latest decision from the Bank of England – to hold rates steady but indicate that two further cuts could be coming in this cycle.

Portfolio review

The month was marked by sharply contrasting performance across individual positions and continued dispersion in both long and short books. Despite modest headline performance, underlying attribution shows strong alpha generation on the short side, offset by weakness across several long positions.

The short book delivered 2.6% of contribution, with the top 10 short contributors generating +2.49% alone. Several positions benefitted from significant downside moves in structurally challenged or overvalued growth stories:

CoreWeave: The largest individual contributor, driven by a sharp correction in private‑market AI infrastructure valuations.
SoundHound AI: Continued deteriorating fundamentals and cash burn concerns powered further downside.
Oracle: Slower cloud momentum and concerns around the pipeline weighed heavily.
StubHub: IPO‑related volatility and weak guidance supported the short case.
HP Inc: Ongoing PC market stagnation continued to compress expectations.

Overall, short alpha was broad-based, diversified, and consistent across themes, reinforcing our conviction in avoiding unprofitable AI adjacencies, challenged legacy hardware, and software restructuring stories.

The long book, despite several strong stock‑specific core winners, saw broad weakness driven by a handful of high‑beta names that retraced sharply. The long book detracted 2.95%.

The top 10 long contributors contributed 2.12%, led by high-quality names in digital platforms, travel, energy equipment, and precious metals:

Alphabet: Strong advertising trends and ongoing margin expansion supported the rerating.
Barrick Gold: Benefitted from gold price strength and operational improvements.
M3: Improved sentiment on digital medical platforms in Japan.
Expedia: Strong bookings and renewed cost discipline supported share performance.
Siemens Energy: Progress on restructuring and improving order flow buoyed sentiment.

However, this strength was overshadowed by several meaningful detractors, with the 10 lowest contributors detracting 3.40%:

Cloudflare: High‑multiple growth names saw valuation pressure.
ETHZilla: A sharp correction following heightened regulatory scrutiny.
Uber: Profit-taking and concerns over mobility pricing weighed on performance.
MARA Holdings: Crypto-linked equities retraced after recent momentum.
AUTO1 & Coinbase: Themes tied to consumer weakness and crypto beta experienced pullbacks.
DiDi: Ongoing regulatory overhang persisted.

The month highlighted the high dispersion across higher-beta and thematic longs, several of which reversed despite stable fundamentals.

Outlook

We remain confident in our barbell approach: high-quality structural compounders on the long side paired with rigorous short exposure across overvalued, structurally challenged, or liquidity dependent names.

November underscored the benefit of this balance, as short alpha materially cushioned long side volatility. Looking ahead:

We continue to favour profitable, cash-generative technology and services companies, especially those demonstrating margin durability.
On the short side, we maintain exposure to speculative AI adjacencies, unprofitable software, and challenged consumer cyclicals, where expectations remain too high.
The environment remains attractive for stock-picking given wide valuation spreads and persistent fundamental dispersion.

Overall, the portfolio is well-positioned to continue generating idiosyncratic alpha on both sides of the book, with gross exposure providing ample flexibility to take advantage of upcoming opportunities.

Discrete years' performance (%* to previous quarter-end:

	Sep-25	Sep-24	Sep-23	Sep-22	Sep-21
Liontrust GF Global Alpha Long Short B8 Acc USD	16.0%	21.4%	-3.8%	-6.9%	21.7%
FRB of New York Secured Overnight Financial Rate	4.4%	5.3%	4.5%	0.7%	0.0%
HFRX Equity Hedge	8.6%	11.4%	4.9%	-2.3%	17.7%

Source: FE Analytics, as at 30.09.25, total return, net of fees and income reinvested. *The Fund was launched on 24 January 2025 to receive the assets of GAM Star Alpha Technology, which was a sub-fund of GAM Star plc (“the merging fund”), which was very similar to the Fund. Because of the similarities between the merging fund and the Fund, the past performance of GAM Star Alpha Technology C Acc - EUR share class has been used for periods prior to the Fund’s launch date.

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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

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.

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Disclaimer

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.

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