SKAGEN Global Webinar INTL Apr 2024 v3.pdf
Out of ten nominees and a shortlist of four, the Golden Bull jury decided to award the Best Fund House award to SKAGEN. This is the first time a fund house has been awarded the Golden Bull prize in this category, rather than a single investment fund. The jury takes into account factors such as fund performance, risk, cost, innovation and the funds’ contribution to the overall investment philosophy.
In its report on the winners, the jury stated that:
“The 'contrarian' argument was decisive: the Norwegian fund provider SKAGEN is involved in value investing, a discipline that struggled in 2023 which was dominated by a tech rally. The fact that some SKAGEN funds managed to beat their benchmark despite the low weighting of growth stocks was particularly impressive.”
The jury highlighted the global small and mid-cap fund SKAGEN Focus which outperformed the MSCI All Country World index in 2023 without having any Magnificent Seven stocks in its portfolio, despite the latter being an important driver of that index. Also positive, although not decisive, was the good sustainability score of the flagship fund SKAGEN Global.
The jury summed up by stating that they were impressed by the bottom-up approach taken by SKAGEN, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in December. The Golden Bull award for 2023 was therefore primarily a reward for adhering to a clear investment style, even when it is not in fashion, and the ability to achieve good results with it through skilful stock selection.