Our new series looks each month at what stocks fund managers across Europe are buying. Last week we look at value managers, and this time round we're homing in on growth funds.
You can find an introduction to series an explanation of how we've selected our funds here, but otherwise let's dive right in.
What Have Growth Fund Managers Been Buying?
There are seven growth funds that meet our criteria. And one of the main characteristics that we noted among our selection of value funds - that their portfolios were very different to each other - is also true of our growth cohrt.
Of the 65 stocks present in the top 10 positions of these funds (note: for the Comgest Growth Europe we only took into account the Top 5 as the top 10 is not available), we found 11 companies that featured in at least two of the top holdings lists.
Novo Nordisk (NOVO), which has a three star rating from Morningstar and Wide Moat, is the clear favorite of our growth managers as it is repeated in five of the seven portfolios. MFS European Research and TM Crux European Special Situations are the only two funds in the group which do hold the pharmaceutical company in their top 10. It is worth noting that the most repeated stock in the top 10 holdings of the best value managers is also a healthcare company.
Regarding Novo Nordisk, Karen Andersen, a healthcare sector specialist at Morningstar, has recently raised its fair value estimate to $73 per share from $68, following solid full-year 2020 results and clear progress with the firm's pipeline, particularly in the expansion of GLP-1 potential in diabetes and obesity but also Alzheimer's disease and NASH (Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis).
Our growth managers have had a lower turnover than the value cohort, with few major changes to the top 10 holdings list. Just five stocks have made a debut into the top holdings lists, occupying either 8th or 10th positions in their respective portfolios.