Janus Henderson Continental European Fund Slides 8.49% in March, Lags Benchmark with -6.5% YTD Return

The Janus Henderson Continental European Fund slipped 8.49% in March, slightly trailing its benchmark’s 8.34% decline. This brings the year-to-date return to -6.5%, compared to the benchmark’s -2.35%.

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Managed by Robert Schramm-Fuchs and Marc Schartz, the fund has a $ 2.1 billion portfolio. The portfolio consists of large-cap continental European companies, aiming for capital growth over a period of 5 or more years.

In the monthly commentary, they assessed the macro developments, portfolio performance, and future outlook.

Monthly Commentary

Managers emphasized the top contributor during the month – TotalEnergies, a French oil outfit. During February, the team increased this position, which showed good timing. During March, its stock rose from 67 EUR to 77 EUR as a result of an oil price surge.

Other contributors came from defensive positions that managed to outperform against the macro backdrop. Some of the names from this bracket included Iberdrola and Orange. Telecommunication giant Nokia also brought gains after a major operational shift. Recently, the management opted to move from a classic mobile infrastructure company to an AI optical networker needed for data centers. In March, the scalers continued to increase demand, providing Nokia with grounds for growth.