Category: Global

Global Equity

Active Global Funds: Performance & Attribution Q1 2026

April 22nd 2026

• Tough quarter, familiar outcome: Global active funds fell -4.79% and trailed the MSCI ACWI Index by 1.7%, with nearly two-thirds of managers underperforming as style dispersion widened (Value +7.3% vs Aggressive Growth).
• US Tech drag, Energy miss: Losses were driven by US Technology (-2.2% impact), while Taiwan/Korea gains weren’t enough to offset broader US and European weakness. Relative underperformance came from missing Energy upside and poor stock selection in key US sectors.
  Crowded pain, positioning gap persists: Weakness in core holdings (Magnificent Seven) outweighed gains from TSMC/ASML and Energy.
• Longer term, active funds remain deeply behind (-47.7% over 10 years), with positioning still out of sync with market leadership.

A Difficult Quarter
Active Global funds had a tough quarter on multiple fronts. Average returns fell -4.79%, with all styles bar Yield in negative territory. Performance was largely driven by style, with Value outperforming Aggressive Growth by 7.3%. Thornburg Income Builder (+9.8%) and Wasatch Global Value (+8.1%) stood out as the top performers.

The MSCI ACWI Index remains a high bar, outperforming the average active fund by 1.7% and beating nearly two-thirds of managers in our universe.

US Leads Returns Lower
The charts below break down Q1 return drivers by country and sector, based on aggregate manager holdings.  At the sector level, Technology was the dominant drag, detracting 2.14% from returns. This was compounded by further weakness in Consumer Discretionary, Financials, and Health Care. Energy provided the only meaningful offset, contributing +0.68%, with smaller positives from Industrials, Utilities, and Materials.

At the country level, Taiwan and South Korea were the only clear contributors, but these gains were more than offset by declines in the US and, to a lesser extent, across major European markets. Within the US, modest gains from Energy and Industrials (+0.62% combined) were overwhelmed by losses in Technology, which alone cost the average Global fund -2.2% over the quarter.

 

Stock-Level Influence
At the stock level, gains were concentrated in a handful of names. TSMC, Samsung Electronics, and ASML were the primary contributors, alongside solid support from global energy majors.

However, these gains were overwhelmed by weakness in core positions. Microsoft (2.9% weight) fell 23.3%, while NVIDIA (3.0% weight) declined 6.5%. More broadly, all of the “Magnificent Seven” detracted, driving the quarter’s negative net return.

Performance Attribution – Where Funds Lost out to the Benchmark
The chart below breaks down the key drivers of relative performance at the country/sector level. Outperformance was led by overweights to Taiwan Technology and Cash, alongside underweights in US Technology and strong stock selection within US Financials.

On the flip side, underperformance was driven by underweights in US Energy and weak stock selection across US Health Care, Industrials, and Technology.

Stock Attribution
Active EM managers benefited from net overweights in TSMC and ASML, alongside cash positions, while underweights in Tesla, Apple, and NVIDIA also supported relative performance.

On the negative side, underownership of Exxon Mobil and Chevron was the largest drag, costing a combined 31bps in relative terms. Elsewhere, managers were caught offside with overweights in HDFC Bank, Intuit, and LVMH.

Long-Term Performance
This quarter’s weakness adds to a prolonged period of underperformance for Global active funds versus the MSCI ACWI Index. A sixth consecutive year of lagging returns would further weigh on the asset class, with 10-year relative performance now sitting at -47.7% on average.

What stands out this quarter is the shift in drivers. Underperformance did not come from the usual source—underweights to the US and US Technology—but instead from missed gains in Energy, which more than offset any benefit from reduced US exposure.

Active positioning remains out of sync with the market’s winners. The question is whether that gap begins to close—or persists.

Performance & Attribution Report

Click the link opposite for full charts and data detailing the drivers of Q1 2026 performance, along with a review of 3-, 5-, and 10-year results across the active Global peer group.

Global Equity

March 30th 2026

Executive Summary

This analysis examines how active Global equity managers allocate capital across companies, focusing on ownership breadth, concentration, and conviction.  While portfolios have become more concentrated— with a small group of stocks accounting for an increasing share of capital—this masks a more important dynamic. Nearly half of total fund weight (~47%) remains invested in stocks held by fewer than 15% of managers.

In other words, while top holdings are increasingly aligned, true differentiation sits deeper within portfolios. It is within this long tail—through stock selection and position sizing—that managers express conviction, take risk, and diverge from peers.

Understanding Global equity portfolios therefore requires looking beyond the consensus core to where strategies are truly defined.

How Many Companies Do Active Global Investors Own?
The number of companies held by active Global funds peaked at more than 6,800 in 2017, before entering a steady and persistent decline. Over the past two years, this contraction has stabilised, with the total consolidating in a narrower 5,200–5,400 range. Today, active Global managers collectively hold 5,336 companies across the 353 funds in our analysis.

Regionally, North America continues to dominate, accounting for 1,855 companies. This is followed by Developed Europe (1,090), Asia’s Big Four (954) and Developed Asia (864). Combined, these regions represent nearly 90% of all companies, with only limited representation from smaller Emerging Market countries and regions.

Ownership Breadth
Ownership breadth across Global portfolios is highly skewed. The vast majority of stocks are held by only a small fraction of funds, with 4,589 companies owned by fewer than 5% of investors. From there, the opportunity set narrows rapidly as ownership broadens, highlighting that only a limited subset of companies achieves widespread adoption.

However, this skew in stock count does not fully translate into portfolio concentration. Companies held by fewer than 15% of managers account for 97.2% of all names, but still represent a meaningful 47.4% of the average fund’s weight. In other words, nearly half of aggregate Global fund exposure sits in stocks that are not widely owned—highlighting how managers continue to differentiate at the margin.

This sits alongside a more concentrated top end. Just seven companies are owned by more than 50% of funds, yet they account for 14.9% of the average Global portfolio. These positions reflect high-conviction, widely shared exposures, creating a structure where portfolios are differentiated in the long tail, but anchored by a small group of consensus leaders.

Concentration on the Rise
Global portfolios have become more concentrated in high-conviction names over time. A decade ago, close to 60–65% of the average fund was allocated to companies owned by fewer than 15% of managers; today, that has fallen to 47.4%, reflecting a steady move away from the long tail.  This shift has been driven primarily by increased allocation to the most widely held names. Companies owned by more than 50% of managers now account for 14.9% of the average fund, marking a clear rise in consensus, high-conviction positioning.

Meanwhile, the middle ownership buckets (15–50%) have remained relatively stable, reinforcing that the key change has been a rotation out of less-owned stocks and into the most crowded part of the market.  The result is a more concentrated portfolio structure: differentiation persists, but an increasing share of performance is tied to a small group of widely held leaders.

Stocks held by more than 50% of funds

The number of stocks held by more than 50% of Global funds has increased in recent years, rising to seven today. This stands out in a historical context—since 2012, only 11 companies have ever reached this level of ownership, with a majority of them represented in the current cohort.

At the same time, the weight allocated to these names has also increased. What was once a relatively small share of portfolios now accounts for nearly 15% of the average Global fund.

Ownership Trends within the 50% Club
The composition of the most widely held stocks has evolved over time, with a clear shift toward a small group of large-cap technology and platform companies. Microsoft Corporation remains the most widely held name, with ownership rising to over 75% of Global funds. Alongside this, NVIDIA, Amazon.com, Meta Platforms, and Alphabet Inc. have all seen strong increases in fund participation, particularly in recent years.

More recently, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Broadcom Inc. have also moved into this cohort, with ownership levels rising and now exceeding 50% of funds.

This increase in ownership has been matched by higher portfolio weights. Alphabet Inc. is now the largest position at just over 3%, followed by NVIDIA Corporation, while Microsoft Corporation has moved lower from previous peaks. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is now approaching similar weight levels, while Meta Platform and Amazon.com have seen exposure levels decline.

The 30% – 50% Cohort

The 30%–50% ownership bucket has remained relatively contained over time. Since 2012, only 62 companies have ever fallen into this range, with the number typically sitting between 16 and 24 at any one point. That makes this a meaningful but still selective part of the Global opportunity set.

In weight terms, this cohort has grown since the middle of the last decade, with average fund exposure rising from high single digits to the mid-teens at its peak. More recently, that total has eased back, though it remains a sizeable part of the average Global portfolio.

The composition of the bucket has also shifted over time. Earlier periods show a broader mix of defensive, consumer, healthcare and industrial names, while more recent years have seen greater representation from large-cap technology and semiconductor stocks. This suggests that the 30%–50% range often acts as a staging ground: a place where important holdings build broad acceptance across portfolios, but do not always remain there permanently.

30–50% Cohort: Snapshot & Turnover Dynamics
Current positioning within the 30%–50% ownership range comprises 17 companies and remains relatively balanced across sectors and regions. The cohort includes a mix of large-cap technology names such as Apple and ASML Holding, alongside financials like JPMorgan and Mastercard , and a range of healthcare, industrial and consumer companies. Individual position sizes remain moderate, generally clustering around 0.3% to 1.5% of average fund weight.

A number of stocks have moved below the 30% threshold over the past year, including Novo Nordisk A/S, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated and LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, with declines driven by both reduced fund participation and lower average weights.

At the same time, new entrants continue to emerge into the cohort. Tencent Holdings Ltd. and AIA Group Limited have seen increases in ownership, while AbbVie Inc. and Johnson & Johnson have moved back into the range. This ongoing entry and exit highlights the role of the 30%–50% bucket as a fluid part of portfolios, where positions can build or fade depending on changes in conviction and relative positioning.

Diverging Paths Within the Middle Cohort
Ownership trends across the current constituents show a range of different patterns. Apple, JPMorgan Chase and AIA Group have all seen periods of rising and falling participation, with ownership moving within established ranges rather than following a sustained upward trend.

Elsewhere, a number of stocks are now at or near peak ownership levels following persistent increases in fund participation. Eli Lilly, Netflix and MercadoLibre have all moved higher over time, reaching the upper end of their historical ownership ranges.  Meanwhile, stocks such as Thermo Fisher and Johnson & Johnson remain well owned, but are still below previous peaks in ownership.

The 15% – 30% Cohort

Broad but Lower Conviction
The 15%–30% ownership bucket represents a much broader part of the Global equity universe. In total, 126 companies currently fall into this range.  Regionally, this group remains heavily skewed toward developed markets. North America accounts for the largest share, with 77 companies representing over 14% of average fund weight. Developed Europe also features prominently, while exposure to Asia and Emerging Markets is more limited, both in terms of number of companies and portfolio weight.

At the stock level, the cohort includes a mix of well-established large-cap names that are widely held but not core positions across portfolios. This includes companies such as Cisco Systems and Qualcomm Incorporated within technology, alongside consumer and healthcare names such as Procter & Gamble and Novartis AG.

The bucket also includes a number of globally diversified industrial and luxury names, including Siemens AG and LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, reflecting its role as a broad, cross-sector segment of portfolios.

Intra-Cohort Rotation
Turnover around the 15% ownership threshold remains active, with a steady flow of names both entering and exiting the 15%–30% bucket. On the exit side, several stocks have moved below the threshold, including Fiserv, Inc., London Stock Exchange Group and Wolters Kluwer N.V.

At the same time, a number of companies have crossed above the 15% level. Siemens Energy AG, Micron Technology and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. have all seen ownership levels increase to above the lower threashold.

Screening for High Conviction Names in the 15% – 30% Cohort
Comparing fund ownership against average position size highlights which stocks are held with greater conviction by their owners. While most names cluster around ~0.6%–1.0% weights, a subset stands out with higher allocations relative to their ownership levels.

For example, compare Oracle Corporation versus Applied Materials, Inc.: both are held by just over 20% of funds, yet the average position size for Oracle is ~1.5% compared to ~0.6% for Applied Materials, highlighting a clear difference in conviction.  L’Oréal S.A. and Lam Research Corporation are two further examples of higher-conviction names, and both feature among the larger individual fund positions shown in the right-hand chart.

The 0% – 15% Cohort

The Long Tail
The <15% ownership bucket represents the vast majority of the Global equity universe, with thousands of companies held by only a small fraction of funds. In aggregate, this still accounts for a substantial ~47% of total Global fund weight.

However, this exposure is spread thinly across a wide range of names, with individual position sizes remaining small. The bucket includes a diverse mix of companies such as Philip Morris International Inc., McDonald’s Corporation and BlackRock, Inc.—well-known businesses, but held with lower conviction and less consistency across portfolios.

Rotation within the group
Turnover within the <15% ownership bucket remains active, with a steady flow of names moving both higher and lower in fund participation. On the upside, stocks such as Banco Santander, S.A., Ryanair Holdings plc and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited have seen recent increases in ownership.

At the same time, other names have moved lower, including adidas AG, BYD Company Limited and Sika AG, where fund participation has declined after earlier periods of stronger ownership.

Early-Stage Conviction: Candidates for Broader Adoption
Comparing fund ownership against average position size highlights a small group of stocks held with higher conviction despite low overall participation. While most names in this bucket have relatively small weights, a subset stands out with meaningfully larger allocations by their holders.

Examples include SK hynix Inc., ASSA ABLOY AB and Safran S.A., which combine lower ownership with above-average position sizes.  This is reinforced by the largest individual fund positions, where names such as Medpace Holdings, Inc. and KeySight Technologies, Inc. feature prominently, highlighting stocks that, while not widely held, are owned in size by a smaller group of managers.

Conclusion

Global equity portfolios are increasingly shaped by a shared set of high-conviction positions at the top, with a small group of widely held companies accounting for a growing share of capital. This creates a more aligned core across managers, where differences in positioning are relatively limited.  However, this is only part of the picture.

Nearly half of total portfolio weight remains distributed across a vast number of less widely owned stocks. It is within this long tail that managers express their highest levels of differentiation—through stock selection, position sizing, and willingness to deviate from consensus.  The middle ownership cohorts act as a transition zone, where stocks move between broader acceptance and more differentiated positioning. But the defining characteristics of a portfolio are rarely found in the most widely held names.

For fund managers and allocators alike, the key takeaway is that analysing top holdings is no longer sufficient. As portfolios become more aligned at the core, understanding the structure, composition and conviction within the long tail is essential to identifying true differentiation, assessing risk, and distinguishing between strategies.

In an environment where consensus is strengthening, it is the tail—not the core—that increasingly defines the fund.

Global Equity Funds

February 24th 2026

Executive Summary

Global active positioning remains structurally concentrated in North America and Developed Europe, but 2025 saw a clear rotation at the margin. Managers remain meaningfully underweight the US despite its 54% average allocation, reallocating capital selectively toward Asia’s largest markets — particularly Taiwan, China and South Korea — while India and Indonesia have lost conviction.

Europe continues to command structural active backing, with 82% of funds overweight despite flat absolute allocations. At the sub-regional level, global portfolios remain a two-horse race: North America and DM Europe account for over 80% of total capital, while EM exposure remains concentrated in the “Big Four.”

Sector positioning is stable but concentrated. Technology dominates at 27% of the average portfolio, followed by Financials and Industrials. Energy remains the clearest consensus underweight. Long-term trends show structural divergence in Technology and Industrials, with Industrials now at record exposure.

At the stock level, conviction is increasingly concentrated in Technology, with eight of the eleven most widely held stocks in the Technology sector. TSMC is the defining positioning story: ownership has surged to a record 65.7% of funds at a +0.9% overweight, making it the second most widely held stock in global active portfolios.

Regionally, flows reinforce this concentration. Broadcom, Siemens Energy and Tencent lead ownership gains, while legacy defensive and healthcare names — including Novo Nordisk and UnitedHealth — have seen sharp reductions. Across regions, capital is consolidating into a narrower set of perceived structural winners.

Entering 2026, global active portfolios are characterised by persistent US underweights, renewed but selective engagement with Asia’s largest economies, record exposure to Industrials, and increasingly concentrated conviction in mega-cap technology leaders.

Regional Positioning
Long-term regional positioning among global active managers remains broadly intact. North America continues to dominate allocations in absolute terms; however managers persistently run a meaningful underweight relative to the SPDR ACWI ETF.  Asia remains the smallest regional allocation overall, although exposure has gradually increased over the past 24 months. That said, a similar proportion of funds remain underweight Asia as is the case with North America, suggesting managers are selectively adding exposure rather than expressing broad regional conviction.

European allocations, meanwhile, have struggled to gain meaningful traction. Absolute allocations have flatlined, while overweight positioning has moderated from prior highs.  However, it is still clear that within actively managed global portfolios, Europe commands a structurally larger share of capital than it does in the benchmark. Notably, 82% of funds are positioned overweight relative to the index — reinforcing Europe’s continued importance as an active opportunity set.

Sub-Region Snapshot
Breaking this down further, global fund exposure remains a two-horse race, with North America and Developed Market Europe accounting for 82.1% of total allocations.  Within Emerging Markets, the “big four” — China, South Korea, Taiwan and India — dominate positioning, each with average weights of 8.1%.

At the sub-regional level, active positioning shows a clear underweight to North America, offset by a similar overweight to DM Europe. Both DM and EM Asia are held underweight, offsetting net cash balances of 2.38%.  In terms of outright ownership, EM breadth remains limited: just 56% of funds hold LATAM exposure, 52% ASEAN and 25% MENA.

Sub-Region Rotation
Aggregate positioning shifted meaningfully over the past 12 months. Chart 27 highlights changes in average weights between 01/31/2025 and 01/31/2026, showing a clear rotation in exposure from North America toward EM’s Big Four. While price action has inevitably contributed, the active component of this move is evident.

Across the EM Big Four, most ownership measures strengthened: 10% of funds moved to overweight, net fund inflows totalled $3.2bn, and 1.7% of funds initiated new positions.

Country Positioning
The US remains the dominant allocation, with an average weight of 54.4%. All funds are invested, representing $835bn of AUM across 1,670 companies. Despite active managers running a significant underweight of 7.76%, there remains a clear market-cap bias in allocations, with US equities accounting for more than half of assets in most global portfolios.

The UK and France are the key areas of active backing. They rank as the second and third largest allocations and are the most widely overweighted countries globally.  The largest country overweights are concentrated in developed Europe, while Australia, India and Japan stand out as the primary underweights alongside the USA.

Country Rotation
Country-level rotation over the past 12 months was led by a pronounced increase in exposure to Taiwan, South Korea and China & HK. Each recorded similar gains in average weight, with a combined 2.37% increase, offset by a 3% reduction in US allocations.

The shift toward EM’s three largest country exposures appears targeted in parts. 5.1% of funds initiated China exposure and 4.9% opened positions in Taiwan. South Korea’s increase appears more price-driven, with limited evidence of active repositioning. Taken together, the move represents a clear attempt to address low absolute allocations to Asia’s major economies. India, by contrast, fared less well, with declining exposure and moderate signs of active outward rotation.

Elsewhere, 7.4% of funds initiated exposure to Spain and 6.6% to Sweden. Denmark saw full exits from 12% of funds, while Indonesia experienced a deterioration in ownership, consistent with trends observed across the broader Global EM fund universe.

Asia Long-Term Dynamics
The trajectory of Global fund ownership across Asia’s major economies is shown in the four charts below. The recovery is most pronounced in Taiwan, where average weights, funds invested, overweights and the percentage of funds overweight have all reached record highs — positioning has never been more bullish.  China is also showing encouraging signs of recovery. All ownership measures have moved higher, although they remain below historical peaks.

South Korea lacks the same level of conviction. Absolute weights have risen, but without a comparable improvement in active positioning metrics. India has weakened materially. Just 14% of the 360 funds in our analysis are positioned ahead of the ACWI weight of 1.55%. Japan appears more stable. The declines seen between 2018 and 2022 have stabilised, with small but sustained increases in funds invested. However, there is little evidence yet of a decisive shift toward a more bullish stance.

Sector Positioning
Information Technology remains the dominant sector allocation, accounting for 26.86% of the average global fund. Financials and Industrials follow, each with just over 13%, completing the top three exposures.

Benchmark-relative positioning is far narrower than at the country level. The largest overweights are in Health Care and Industrials, at just over 2% above benchmark, offset by underweights in Financials, Technology and Energy of between 1.5% and 2.3%.  Energy remains the clearest consensus underweight, with just over 80% of funds positioned below the ACWI index weight.

Sector Rotation.
Sector exposures among Global strategies shifted modestly over the past 12 months, with no moves large enough to materially alter overall positioning. Industrials recorded the largest net increase in average weight, alongside Technology, while reductions were concentrated in Consumer Discretionary and Health Care.

Sensitive Sectors – Long-Term Trends
We highlight the four ‘sensitive’ sectors to illustrate how Technology has clearly diverged from the group over the past decade. Industrials also stand out, with record average exposure of 13.1% and a move to fresh highs in the benchmark overweight.

Stock Positioning
Technology continues to dominate, accounting for 8 of the 11 most widely held stocks across global active portfolios. Microsoft remains by far the most widely owned, appearing in 77% of funds, with an average weight of 3% — broadly in line with the benchmark. TSMC is held by slightly more funds than NVIDIA, although NVIDIA carries the highest average weight globally at 3.05%.

From a benchmark-relative perspective, Apple, NVIDIA and Tesla are the key underweights, funding overweights in names such as TSMC, ASML and Visa.

Stock Rotation
There have been several notable shifts in ownership among global companies over the past 12 months. Broadcom leads the gains, attracting investment from an additional 12% of funds. Siemens Energy and Tencent Holdings follow, each seeing ownership increase by 9.7%. There were also meaningful increases in fellow Chinese large caps, including Alibaba Group Holding and Contemporary Amperex Technology.

On the negative side, Novo Nordisk and UnitedHealth Group saw the most significant declines, with ownership falling by 19.3% and 15.6% of funds respectively.

TSMC – Setting New Records
TSMC ownership across Global funds has surged to a record high, with 65.7% of managers now holding the stock at an average +0.9% overweight versus ACWI — an extraordinary build that has propelled it to the second most widely owned company in the global active universe.

North America – Stock Trends
Across North America we highlight 14 stocks driving the positioning narrative. Chart 107 shows the three largest ownership increases in 2025, with Broadcom, Netflix and Tapestry ending the month at all-time highs. Chart 108 captures the most significant reductions. Chart 109 flags emerging names pushing toward the top of their historical ownership ranges but still held by fewer than 20% of managers, with AppLovin and Amphenol standing out for particularly strong investment growth.

At the same time, former core holdings of Global portfolios — Pfizer, Occidental Petroleum and Chevron — have fallen from historically high ownership levels to near record lows (Chart 110).

Europe – Stock Trends
In Europe, positioning is becoming more polarised. Siemens, Rheinmetall and BBVA have surged to record ownership levels, while LVMH, Sika and Wolters Kluwer have seen meaningful investor exits (Charts 118–119).

Beneath the surface, five stocks are steadily building an investor base. Each remains owned by fewer than 10% of managers, but all have shown consistent ownership growth over the past 12 months, including AerCap Holdings, CaixaBank and Bank of Ireland (Chart 120).

At the other end of the spectrum, Chart 121 highlights the three largest ownership declines since 2012. Nestlé and Roche have fallen sharply to new lows, while Vodafone has stabilised only after years of sustained erosion.

Asia – Stock Trends
Across Asia, the strongest ownership gains over the past 12 months have come from China & Hong Kong. Tencent, Alibaba and CATL have attracted sustained Global investor confidence, notable given the typically concentrated exposure managers run within EM markets. These gains have been offset by declines in Japan, where Brother Industries, Shin-Etsu and Keyence have all seen ownership fall over the year.

Emerging interest is building in names such as Advantest, Chugai Pharmaceutical and Daifuku, while exposure to China Mobile, Canon and Fanuc continues to erode, with ownership in each trending toward negligible levels.

Global Equity

Active Global Funds: Performance & Attribution 2025

January 8th 2026

Key Data Points

• Strong Absolute Returns, Weak Relative Results: Global equity funds returned 18.8% in 2025, but only 27.1% outperformed the SPDR ACWI ETF, which gained 22.8%.
• Value-Led Outperformance at the Top: Top performers were driven by Value strategies, with the cohort averaging 26.1% — well ahead of the peer group.
• Tech and US Exposure Dominated: Technology contributed 5.6% to returns, with the US accounting for 8.4% overall — reinforcing their central role in portfolio performance.
• Benchmark Beats on Stock Selection: US Tech stock selection was the biggest source of underperformance, despite the correct underweight call.
• Underweights in US Consumer Discretionary and Energy, and overweights in Taiwan Tech, added modest outperformance.
• Long-Term Struggles Continue: 2025 marked the fifth straight year of underperformance vs. the benchmark; the ETF’s 10-year lead now stands at 48.5%.

A Solid Year, but the Benchmark Spoils the Party
On the surface, 2025 delivered compelling returns for Global equity funds, with the average fund posting an 18.8% gain — a solid outcome in its own right. Standout performers like Artemis Global Income and Redwheel Global Intrinsic Value finished the year with returns exceeding 40%, fueled by a pronounced Value tailwind that lifted the entire Style group. In fact, the Value cohort outpaced the broader fund universe with an average return of 26.1%.

Yet, perhaps the most striking figure comes from the benchmark: the SPDR ACWI ETF returned 22.8% in 2025, comfortably ahead of the average active manager. Only 27.1% of funds surpassed this benchmark return, underscoring an ongoing challenge for active strategies in the global equity space.

Breaking Down the 2025 Return: Tech and the US Take the Lead
The 18.8% average return for active Global equity funds in 2025 can be unpacked by examining the underlying exposures across sectors and countries, based on active managers’ aggregate holdings. Technology stood out as the dominant driver, contributing 5.6 percentage points to overall returns — a reflection of both strong performance in the sector and its outsized weighting in portfolios. Financials added a further 3.9%, while Industrials and Communication Services contributed 3.1% and 2.2%, respectively.

At the country level, the USA — particularly through its exposure to Technology — accounted for 8.4% of the total return. EMEA delivered a more muted, but still material, contribution of just under 7%. On the downside, Danish Health Care shaved off 0.26% from performance — the only meaningful drag in an otherwise strong year for global allocations.

Stock-Level Influence: A Broad Base of Winners, Few Detractors
At the stock level, returns in 2025 were driven by a wide range of contributors, with gains led by key members of the “Mag 8” alongside strong performances from TSMC and Samsung Electronics. The breadth of positive contributions was notable, with the top 10 contributors accounting for just 27% of total fund returns for the year — underscoring the diversified nature of stock-level performance.

Detractors, by contrast, were fewer and less impactful. The ratio of stocks with positive versus negative contributions stood at roughly 2:1. Among the laggards, Novo Nordisk led the losses with a 39.4% decline, followed by UnitedHealth Group at -33% — the most significant individual drags on performance.

Performance Attribution – Where Did the Losses Come From?
The chart below highlights the main sources of outperformance and underperformance versus the benchmark at the country/sector level. The largest single driver of fund losses versus the benchmark was poor stock selection in US Technology.  The underweight call was the correct one, but individual over and underweights were misplaced and the benchmark won out.  We mustn’t understate the influence on Cash holding on Global performance, which during strong markets are an obvious drag – last year costing the average manager 0.5%.  

Pockets of outperformance were smaller in magnitude, with the US Consumer Discretionary underweight leading the winners, alongside Taiwan Tech Overweights and US Energy Underweights.

Stock Attribution
Active Global managers made marginal gains from their underweight in Apple, alongside overweights in TSMC and ASML, and smaller contributions from underperformers like Costco and Berkshire Hathaway.

But losses outweighed gains. Underweights in NVIDIA and Alphabet — along with smaller underweights in high-return names like Palantir and Micron — hurt performance versus the benchmark. On top of that, overweights in Novo Nordisk, Keyence Corp, and London Stock Exchange further extended relative losses.

Long-Term Performance: Benchmark dominance persists, but for how long?
This year’s underperformance marks the fifth consecutive year active Global equity funds have lagged the MSCI ACWI ETF — and ranks as the third-largest relative loss since 2012. The ETF has now landed in the top third of the fund universe for three straight years, with its 10-year return sitting a substantial 48.5% ahead of the average active manager.

For those who have managed to outperform, this backdrop offers compelling evidence to support fund marketing and asset gathering — highlighting just how rare benchmark-beating performance has become.

For the rest, there’s perhaps some consolation in the fact that US Technology continues to dominate benchmark returns. If that trend were to reverse or fade, the relative landscape could shift. Still, the consistency of underperformance makes it clear: the challenge of beating the passive default has rarely been higher.

Performance & Attribution Report

Click the link opposite for full charts and data detailing the drivers of 2025 performance, along with a review of 3-, 5-, and 10-year results across the active Global peer group.

Global Funds

Breaking the Range: EM Reclaims Attention in Global Portfolios

December 16th 2025

Executive Summary

After years of range-bound allocations, Emerging Markets are finally gaining ground in Global portfolios. Average EM weights have broken out of a long-standing band, reaching their highest level since 2019, supported by strong inflows and a clear shift in positioning among active managers. The share of funds now overweight EM has risen meaningfully, and the net underweight has narrowed to its tightest level in eight years.

This move has been led by renewed interest in North Asia — particularly Taiwan, China & Hong Kong, and South Korea — with additional support from smaller markets like Poland and South Africa. At the stock level, TSMC remains the standout, but increased ownership in names like Tencent, Alibaba, and CATL hints at broader re-engagement with key EM equities.

Click on the Report Link below for access to the latest EM Materials Market Intelligence Report.

Still, EM allocations remain shallow across most Global funds, concentrated in a small set of countries and stocks. Value and Small/Midcap strategies show a slight tilt toward higher EM exposure, but the difference is more marginal than structural. Even with the recent momentum shift, EM remains a modest position for the majority — 81% of funds hold less than 13%. For investors looking for meaningful EM exposure, a typical Global fund may not be the most effective route. But for those managers who do allocate more, it becomes a genuine point of differentiation — and one that deserves to be clearly communicated to prospective investors.

Breaking Out
EM allocations within Global funds are breaking out of a long-held range. After spending most of 2021 to 2024 locked between 6.5% and 7.5%, average weights have moved higher in 2025, now at 8.61% — the highest level since early 2019 (chart 7). The move has been driven by strong inflows (chart 15) and a clear shift in manager positioning, with a growing number of funds rotating from underweight to overweight. As a result, the share of funds positioned above the ACWI index has climbed to 31.3%, up from sub-25% levels that had persisted for nearly four years (chart 14). The net underweight has narrowed to just -2.17%, its tightest point since 2017 (chart 13).

Country Rotation
The move higher in EM allocations has been driven largely by the trio of Taiwan, South Korea, and China & HK, which together have added 1.5 percentage points to overall EM weights since the breakout began in February (chart 90). Active rotation has been the strongest in Taiwan and China & HK, with both markets seeing an additional 3.4% of funds initiate exposure and net inflows exceeding $2 billion each (charts 91&92). Smaller positive contributions came from Poland and South Africa. On the other side, India and Indonesia bucked the trend. India saw outflows and more funds moving underweight (chart 94), while Indonesia dropped out of favour with 2.5% of funds selling out over the period.

EM Country Positioning
Country-level allocations within EM are dominated by China & HK and Taiwan — but unlike in dedicated EM portfolios, Taiwan is a much closer competitor here, both in terms of weight and outright ownership. Beyond these two, only South Korea, India, and Brazil feature in any meaningful way, with the top five markets accounting for 92% of the overall EM allocation. The net underweight of -2.17% is largely driven by India, where 85% of funds are positioned below benchmark. Smaller negative contributions come from underweights in China & HK, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. Taiwan stands out as the only net overweight, with just over half of Global managers holding above-benchmark positions.

Stock Positioning
At the stock level, TSMC stands well above peers — not just as a leading EM name, but as a globally significant holding. It ranks as the 2nd most widely held stock globally and is the number one stock in Emerging Markets, held by 65.6% of managers. It towers over a second tier of names that includes Tencent, AIA Group, Samsung, Alibaba, and HDFC Group. But beyond this top group, depth quickly falls away. Only 12 EM stocks are held by more than 10% of global managers — a statistic that highlights not just the narrowness of EM exposure, but also the wide dispersion of holdings across individual portfolios.

The Evolution of Ownership in key EM Stocks
Chart 120 shows the time-series of funds invested in the three companies with the largest increase in ownership between February and November this year. It’s an all-China affair, with Tencent and Alibaba both regaining some of the ownership momentum lost during the 2020–2024 period, while Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) has pushed to new record highs — though it remains lightly held overall. Against this, Meituan, Axis Bank, and Bank Rakyat have seen recent declines in fund ownership (chart 121), while China Mobile, Alibaba Group Holding, and Baidu have recorded the steepest drops from previous highs (chart 123). Finally, chart 122 highlights five stocks now at record ownership levels but still held by fewer than 20% of managers — potential early-stage names that could attract broader interest as conviction builds.

Fund Ownership Distributions

The EM allocation picture across individual Global funds is laid out in the four charts below. Chart 31 shows a clear clustering of fund weights between 0% and 13%, though there’s a long tail of higher-conviction positions extending well beyond that. Chart 33 confirms that 81% of funds are positioned below 13%, with the middle 50% of allocations falling between the quartile bands of 4.4% and 11.8% (chart 34). At the top end, the most bullish EM allocators hold as much as 33.7%, highlighting the wide dispersion of positioning across the fund universe.

Style and Size Splits
Finally, it’s worth examining how different types of Global funds are positioned in EM. Charts 23 and 24 break this down by fund style, and while EM is often linked to high-growth narratives, the data tells a different story. Value funds currently hold an average EM weight of 11.1%, compared to just 7.7% for Growth funds. A similar pattern emerges when looking at market cap focus: Small- and Mid-Cap-oriented funds are far more exposed to EM than their Large- or Mega-Cap counterparts (charts 25 and 26). While this partly reflects the limited presence of EM names in the global megacap universe, it also underscores the depth of opportunity that still exists among smaller companies across emerging markets.

AFI – Market Intelligence Report:  Emerging Markets

Please click on the link opposite for the full positioning report on Emerging Markets positioning withing Global funds.  It contains 133 charts, including fund-level detail at the sector, country/sector and stock level, breakdowns by Style, Market Cap Focus and Benchmark Independence, together with a full gap analysis on past holders and potential buyers in the region.

Global Equity Funds

Japan: Cautiously Reengaging

November 25th, 2025

Executive Summary
Japan ownership among active global funds continues to rise in absolute terms, with 87.7% of funds holding exposure—making it the fourth most widely held country. However, average weights remain low, and Japan persists as a structural underweight, with most funds still positioned below their long-term median levels.

Beneath the surface, rotation has been modest and uneven. Value strategies are the lead allocators at present, while Aggressive Growth funds are split—some adding exposure, others continuing to reduce. Sector positioning is concentrated in Tech and Industrials, while Financials show tentative signs of recovery but remain an area of low conviction. Stock-level ownership is highly dispersed, with little consensus beyond names like Keyence and Sony.

Despite strong market performance, the positioning response has been restrained. Some managers are returning after years on the sidelines, but the pace is measured. Active investors are reengaging—but with discipline, not exuberance!

Click on the Report Link below for access to the latest Japan Market Intelligence Report, and scroll down for the chart highlights


Country Positioning:  Japan Ahead of Asian Peers
We begin with the percentage of global funds invested in each country — a measure that cleanly captures participation. Unlike AUM or average weight-based measures, this approach removes price distortions and captures a binary expression of conviction: a fund either owns a position, or it does not. Chart 4 shows Japan as the fourth most widely held country, with 87.7% of the 358 global funds in our dataset holding exposure. While this sits behind the near-universal ownership of the US and broad inclusion of the UK and France, it places Japan well ahead of other key Asian markets.
Chart 8 tracks the progression of this metric over time. The trend points to a steady recovery in the share of funds owning Japan, alongside a persistent gap versus China & HK and Taiwan. That said, ownership in other Asian markets has also been rising. China & HK, Taiwan, and Singapore have all seen accelerating participation in recent months—early signs of a broader regional rotation taking shape.

Absolute and Relative Fund Weights:  Japan in Decline, Persistently Underweight
Japan ranks as the fourth largest country weight in absolute terms (Chart 1), and simultaneously the fourth largest underweight relative to the SPDR ACWI ETF (Chart 2). Despite rising participation, average weights remain pinned near the lower end of the 15-year range, while China & HK and Taiwan continue to close the gap (exhibit 2). In relative terms, Japan remains a structural underweight for active global managers, with positioning steadily contracting in recent years—broadly echoing the trend seen in China & HK. Taiwan, by contrast, has followed a different path, making a more decisive transition from a persistent underweight to a clear overweight (exhibit 3).

Country-Level Rotation:  Mixed Signals
Fund rotation metrics over the past six months offer a conflicted read. On the positive side, the percentage of funds invested in Japan rose by 0.84%, and the country attracted the second-largest inflows outside of Cash, totalling $3.5bn. However, these gains are offset by weaker internals: average weights declined, the relative underweight widened, and a greater number of funds shifted to an underweight stance. Japan also saw a net imbalance of sellers over buyers—consistent with broader asset class dynamics, where global funds recorded $4.7bn in net outflows and a 3:2 ratio of funds seeing redemptions versus inflows. In short, while participation continues to rise, this is far from a full-fledged pivot into Japan. The rotation remains tentative.

Style Dynamics:  Value over Growth

A clear Value bias emerges when splitting Japanese allocations by fund style. Average weights among Value funds are more than twice those of Aggressive Growth funds, which have steadily and consistently reduced exposure to Japan since 2018 and now sit near record lows. While GARP investors remain overweight Japan relative to the ACWI benchmark, both Yield and Growth funds maintain moderate underweights.

Fund-Level Positioning
The distribution of Japan allocations across global funds (Chart 31) is centred between 1% and 6%, with relatively few funds holding positions above 10%. Those that do tend to have a Value or Yield orientation. Chart 34 further illustrates the skew: 75% of funds hold a Japan weight below 6.24%, with the largest single allocation topping out at 17.6%.

Japan’s Top Investors
Chart 35 highlights the largest fund-level allocations to Japan. DWS CROCI Global Dividends and Schroders Global Sustainable Value lead the group, with weights of 17.6% and 17.3% respectively. They are followed by a cohort of Value and Yield-focused funds, each holding allocations above 10%.
Top holders typically maintain concentrated exposure, with 5 to 15 Japanese stocks in each portfolio. A few quant-oriented strategies are the exception, holding a broader basket of names.

Fund Rotation:  Aggressive Growth Funds Active

Over the past six months, six funds initiated exposure to Japan, led by Aviva Global Endurance (5.3%), AGF Global Select (3.46%), and PGIM Jennison Global Opportunities (2.73%). What stands out is the clear skew toward Aggressive Growth strategies among those increasing or establishing new positions.
Interestingly, this dynamic also holds at the other end of the spectrum. Several Aggressive Growth funds—including CT Global Focus, AB Concentrated Global Equity, and Premier Miton Global Sustainable—have sharply reduced or exited their Japan exposure. The message is mixed, but it’s clear that leadership and opportunity within high-growth strategies are in transition.

Japan’s Sector Positioning:  Tech and Industrials Lead
From a sector standpoint, Japan’s exposure within global funds is led by Information Technology and Industrials, each accounting for roughly 1% of total allocations. These are followed by smaller positions in Consumer Discretionary, Financials, and Health Care—together, the five sectors represent 85% of Japan’s aggregate weighting. Financials stand out as an area of low conviction. Despite their domestic importance, only 25.7% of global funds hold an overweight position in Japan Financials, resulting in a net underweight of -0.29% relative to the ACWI index.

Long-Term Sector Trends

Exhibit 4 highlights the long-term trends in ownership among Japan’s key sectors.  It shows the steady decline in fund ownership of Japan’s Consumer Discretionary sector. Once the most widely held sector in 2015—reaching nearly 70% of global funds—it is now held by just 46.1%. Taking its place are Information Technology and Industrials, with Tech overtaking as the most widely owned sector from early 2024 onward.
While Financials remain less widely held overall, they have been on a gradual recovery path and now exceed Health Care in ownership—a sector seeing a consistent exodus among active global managers.

Japan’s Stock Ownership Picture

Despite being the fourth largest country allocation among global investors, stock-level ownership in Japan is relatively dispersed. Only two companies—Keyence Corp and Sony Group—are held by more than 20% of funds, with just 10 others owned by more than 10%. Keyence stands out as a notable overweight versus the benchmark, but overall, there are few true consensus positions.
Below the top names, the ownership curve flattens quickly: 228 Japanese stocks are held by just 1% to 10% of global funds. This paints a different picture to markets like the US, where holdings are far more concentrated—Microsoft, for example, appears in over 76% of global portfolios. In contrast, Japan shows a more fragmented profile, with relatively low overlap across funds and greater dispersion in positioning.

Japan’s Unloved Stocks
Chart 94 highlights a group of Japanese stocks that remain underrepresented in active global portfolios. These are names with a weight in the MSCI ACWI index but held by fewer than 5% of the active funds in our analysis.
SoftBank Group leads the list—owned by just 4.2% of funds despite a benchmark weight of 0.21%. These low-ownership names reflect areas where active managers are showing limited interest, even when benchmark inclusion might suggest otherwise.

Stock Rotation:  Tentative Shifts in Ownership
Over the past six months, rotation within Japanese equities has been modest. Four companies saw ownership rise by at least 2% of the funds in our analysis, led by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, TIS Inc., and OBIC Co. On the other side, 2.8% of funds exited Recruit Holdings, while 2.5% reduced exposure to Keyence Corp. Overall, this measured activity reflects soft rotation rather than a decisive shift in sentiment. There is no clear evidence of a broad pivot in either direction.


The Largest Stock-Level Buyers and Sellers
As shown earlier in Chart 18, Japan attracted strong net inflows from the global funds in our analysis. However, headline flow figures can be skewed by a handful of large strategies and may mask a more balanced picture at the individual fund level. That’s clearly the case here.
A significant share of the inflows came from Capital Group’s American Funds suite—particularly Growth & Income and New Perspective—which added meaningfully to positions in names such as SoftBank Group, Hitachi Ltd, and Tokyo Electron. At the same time, these strategies scaled back exposure to smaller holdings like Shin-Etsu Chemical and Daiichi Sankyo.

Stock Ownership Trends
The six charts below track the evolution of fund ownership across the 18 most widely held Japanese stocks. Chart 103 highlights a notable divergence—Sony has seen a sharp increase in fund ownership, while Keyence has declined from previous highs.
Chart 104 shows a steady climb in ownership of Hoya Corp, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, and Hitachi, pointing to growing institutional interest. Other notable moves include a sharp drop in KDDI positioning, a rise in Mizuho Financial ownership, and a recovery in exposure to Nintendo.

Selected Stock Highlights
Chart 109 highlights the stocks seeing the strongest six-month rotation into active global funds. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial has reached its highest ownership levels in seven years, while TIS and OBIC Co. appear to be in the early stages of building a global investor base. In contrast, Recruit Holdings, Keyence Corp, and ONO Pharmaceutical have seen meaningful declines—most notably ONO, which has almost faded from the picture entirely.
Chart 111 identifies five stocks where fund ownership is at record highs but still remains below 20% of the universe. These names may warrant close attention, combining upward momentum with substantial headroom for broader adoption. Hitachi and Mizuho Financial stand out here.
Lastly, Chart 112 illustrates the continued decline in ownership of Toyota Motor Corp, Fanuc, and Canon Inc.—once core holdings, now steadily retreating from the global fund landscape.

Can Japan Push on from here?
With Japan’s major equity indices breaking above multi-decade highs, we might have expected a decisive shift in global fund positioning. But while ownership is rising in absolute terms, the overall picture remains measured. There’s little evidence of aggressive rotation—whether at the sector level or in terms of standout individual stock flows. From a positioning standpoint, the mood is cautious rather than euphoric.

Viewed through a historical lens, current allocations remain subdued. A decade ago, aggregate fund weights in Japan frequently exceeded 7%, and individual fund-level exposures were meaningfully higher. Today, they sit well below those previous peaks. Chart 113 illustrates this clearly: the Z-score of current Japan weights across our fund universe places 50% of funds in the 18th percentile relative to their own historical positioning. Moreover, 75% of funds are currently running Japan allocations below their long-term median exposure.

Chart 114 adds another layer, showing the cumulative number of funds entering or exiting Japan since 2012. Of the 353 global funds that have invested in Japan over that period, only 315 are currently active in the market. The upward slope of the red line reflects a steady re-entry—but also highlights how many funds had exited altogether, and are only now starting to return.

In short, Japan’s positioning story is flatter than the market price action might suggest. There are signs of moderate re-engagement—particularly among Value-oriented strategies, with Aggressive Growth managers selectively adding exposure. But this is far from a wholesale pivot. Active investors are approaching with caution.

Global Funds: Q3 Performance & Attribution

Active Global funds are facing yet another challenging year. While the average fund delivered a commendable 15.5% return through the end of Q3, the elephant in the room remains a benchmark that continues to deliver well above-average performance. The SPDR ACWI ETF returned 18.8% year-to-date, outperforming 73% of the 358 active funds in our analysis.

For more analysis, data or information on active investor positioning in your market, please get in touch with me on steven.holden@copleyfundresearch.com

 

The Big Picture:  Global Fund Positioning Update

In this report, we take a deep dive into active global fund positioning—across regions, countries, sectors, and stocks—highlighting the key dynamics shaping capital allocation across our 360-strong fund universe.

We begin with headline positioning trends across the three major regions, before examining each in detail: Americas, EMEA, and Asia, together with a section focusing on Emerging Markets.

For more analysis, data or information on active investor positioning in your market, please get in touch with me on steven.holden@copleyfundresearch.com

  

335 Global Equity Funds, AUM $1.25tr

Palantir Technologies Inc.

Rotation Signals Momentum Shift

Palantir has rapidly become one of the most widely held AI names among Global funds, with ownership nearly doubling in six months to 11.3%. Growth managers have driven the surge, though most positions remain small outside a few concentrated bets. Despite ranking fourth within its software and AI peer group, Palantir is still more opportunistic than strategic in portfolios. A 500% share price rally has pushed it up the indices, leaving active funds modestly underweight as passive demand builds.

For more analysis, data or information on active investor positioning in your market, please get in touch with me on steven.holden@copleyfundresearch.com