Bellevue Asset Management: BB Entrepreneur Europe Fund: Successful investment strategy earns top ratings

Investing in family and entrepreneurial businesses listed on the stock market not only fits the spirit of our times, it also holds out the promise of attractive returns. Three-year data confirm the viability of the strategy behind the BB Entrepreneur Europe (Lux) Fund managed by Bellevue Asset Management. With a performance of +74.1% (in EUR), the Fund has significantly outperformed the broader market and ranks among the best performing funds for this period. The Fund recently received a 5-star rating from Morningstar and its lead manager Birgitte Olsen was also awarded a AAA rating from Citywire. 

The BB Entrepreneur Europe Fund (ISIN B-EUR LU0415391860) is focused on investing in family-run or entrepreneurially led companies that are listed on the stock market. These are companies that are managed and/or largely controlled by a family or a group of owners holding an interest in the company of at least 20%. A strong sense of identification with and a significant financial stake in their company as well as a solid equity base and a long-term perspective are distinguishing characteristics of these entrepreneurs. "Besides passing our qualitative entrepreneurial due diligence process, a company must also satisfy conventional fundamental criteria before it can qualify for our selective portfolio of 30 to 40 stocks," says Birgitte Olsen, Lead Portfolio Manager. Mrs. Olsen and her team manage approximately CHF 200 million in assets based on this entrepreneur concept. Since its launch on April 30, 2009, the BB Entrepreneur Europe Fund has achieved a performance of 20.3% p.a., which compares to the 12.0% p.a. gain by the Europe Stoxx 600 Index (data as of April 30, 2012) over the same period. This puts the Fund in the top decile of a competitive ranking (European equity funds universe, Lipper data base) and has earned it numerous awards from prestigious fund rating agencies. BB Entrepreneur Europe most recently received a top rating of 5 stars from Morningstar and its Lead Portfolio Manager Birgitte Olsen was given a AAA rating by Citywire.

Good investment opportunities in the current environment

Sentiment in European stock markets has soured since March 2012. Worries about Greece, the euro and political developments have sent European stocks into reverse. Intelligent portfolio diversification is essential in this difficult environment marked by uncertainty and widespread risk aversion. "Qualities such as a strong equity base and a competitive position in foreign markets with intact growth trends are particularly important now. The equity ratios of the companies in our portfolio, for example, are higher than average and more than 55% of all the sales they generate come from non-European countries," explains Birgitte Olsen. The portfolio remains focused on growth, with a preference for structural rather than cyclical growth. Selective value plays are also seen in cyclical sectors that have come under heavy selling pressure. Looking at the broader picture, this is a fertile, albeit nervous, environment for stock-picking in the entrepreneurial space.

Bellevue Asset Management - A pioneer in managing entrepreneur investment funds

The BB Entrepreneur Europe Fund is managed by Bellevue Asset Management, which itself is an entrepreneurial-oriented and owner-managed asset management company. Its family of funds includes three Luxembourg-based products specifically focused on entrepreneur strategies. The Swiss funds boutique has years of experience in this investment theme and is one of the pioneers in this field. In addition to its Entrepreneur Europe funds, Bellevue offers an Entrepreneur Asia fund in collaboration with an asset management boutique in Hong Kong.

For further information:

Bellevue Asset Management AG, Seestrasse 16/P.O. Box, 8700 Küsnacht/Zurich
Thomas Egger, Tel. +41 (44) 267 67 09, teg@bellevue.ch (mailto:teg@bellevue.ch)

www.bellevue.ch/bbentrepreneur/en (http://www.bellevue.ch/bbentrepreneur/en)

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