Eric Sturdza Investments: Successful Europe equity fund is renamed while maintaining its investment process

Frankfurt, 08.12.20 - The Strategic European Smaller Companies Fund (the "Fund") from Eric Sturdza Investments will in future be managed under the name Strategic European Silver Stars Fund.
The investment process of the successful Fund will remain unchanged, with Pascal Investment Advisers S.A., led by Bertrand Faure, continuing to manage the Fund. Since its inception in May 2015, the Fund has returned 57% to investors, significantly outperforming its benchmark, the STOXX Europe 600 NR EUR Index, by 42%. This exceptionally strong absolute and relative result translates into an annualised return of 8.5% compared with 2.6% for the benchmark.*

The Fund's liquidity terms have been improved, enabling investors to trade on a daily, rather than weekly basis, with one day's notice for subscriptions and five days' notice for redemptions, increasing flexibility for investors. The Fund's market capitalisation constraints have also been removed, but there are no changes to the investment process or how the Fund is managed. The bias towards small and mid-cap companies is a result of the investment team's fundamental 360-degree private equity style proprietary research rather than any restriction in the mandate and as such the bias will be retained. 'High Conviction & Concentration' and 'Discipline & Prudence' remain the pillars of the investment philosophy.

Eric Sturdza Investments, which has EUR 2.3 bn assets under management, made the updates to closer align the prospectus with the Fund.

The Fund's name is being changed to the Strategic European Silver Stars Fund. The new name references the Alpine Edelweiss or 'Silver Star' flower, which traditionally grows in unforgiving conditions at very high altitudes. The little white flower is a symbol of bravery and perseverance for those able to seek it out and embodies the ESG beliefs of the manager.

The Edelweiss flower grows in very specific parts of the Alpine region where the localised conditions meet its exacting requirements, in a similar way to how the Fund's investment team select their investments. The Alpine region also straddles the countries where many of the Fund's investment ideas are sourced, with companies in France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Germany typically representing more than half of the portfolio.

"We have always prided ourselves on finding lesser known investment ideas via a detailed fundamental research process, searching beyond the familiar paths and themes to build a differentiated portfolio that can thrive over the long term, surviving even the harshest market environments." explains Bertrand Faure, Portfolio Manager of the Fund.

*Performance as at 30th November 2020, figures provided by EISSML. Individual performance of the Fund may vary and historical data is not an indication of future results.

About E.I. Sturdza Funds plc Strategic European Silver Stars Fund
The Fund was launched in May 2015 as the Strategic European Smaller Companies Fund. The investment team, led by Bertrand Faure, invests primarily in small and mid caps European Companies, with no applicable market capitalisation restrictions anymore. The investment strategy relies on a bottom up stock selection process based on fundamental 360-degree private equity style proprietary research.

About E.I. Sturdza
E.I. Sturdza Strategic Management Limited (EISSML) was founded in November 1999 and belongs to the Eric Sturdza Group which has its headquarters in Geneva. In total, the Group manages 5 billion USD. EISSML is responsible for the Group's fund distribution activities, currently relying on exclusive partnerships with selected portfolio managers, all of whom are leaders in their fields and have a solid and long-term track record. EISSML provides its portfolio managers with a comprehensive infrastructure that allows them to focus on pure portfolio management.

Please find more information on

Press Contact
edicto GmbH
Dr. Sönke Knop / Jessica Pommer
Eschersheimer Landstraße 42
60322 Frankfurt am Main
Tel. +49 (69) 905 505-51