# 2Ongoing Charges Figure, is based on expenses over a year. The figure includes annual management charge but not the transaction costs. Such figures may vary from time to time.
| Monthly Performance Commentary |
| --- |
| Market Review Global equities rose in July as early corporate earnings results provided optimistic signals to investors of the global economic recovery, whilst monetary policy across the world remained accommodative. US stocks rallied as US corporates posted strong earnings results with a majority of them beating consensus estimates, which helped to buoy investor sentiment. Better-than-expected job creation and consumer confidence data further corroborated the strength of the economic recovery. Whilst inflation continued to surge, the US Federal Reserve was assertive on its view that inflation is merely temporary and that they will continue to wait for further evidence of additional improvements in the economy before any tapering of bond purchases. European stocks climbed also as consensus-beating Eurozone manufacturing and service activity data indicated a robust demand recovery in the region, despite the resurgence of COVID-19 cases which have reignited social restrictions in some countries. The European Central Bank announced that they will change their inflation target to allow it to overshoot 2% and committed to their loose policy stance, which supported a favourable environment for equities. Asian stocks retreated due to investor concerns over tightening government regulations on Chinese companies. The Chinese government announced bans on making profits in the domestic education sector and issued regulations to limit funding for property developers, which unnerved investors in the region. The spread of the Delta variant also hampered investor sentiment as social restrictions were toughened in a number of Asian countries. Factor Performance Overall style factor performance was slightly underwater in July. The more defensive factors continued to outperform their pro-cyclical counterparts in the period. Within alpha factors, Quality was the best performing factor globally, alongside Low Risk that also outperformed. Industry Momentum gave back some of the rewards it gathered in the last three months when it was consistently the best performing factor. At the other end of the spectrum, in the pro-cyclical universe, Value was out of favour and lagged in the month. Size was flat on performance, as it recovered earlier losses in the second half of the month when it was positively rewarded. Regionally, in North America, performance was largely consistent with the global picture with the defensive regime slightly more pronounced; while Industry Momentum was relatively flat and Size underperformed along with Value. In Europe, Value underperformance was more significant, while Size was positively rewarded. Meanwhile, the UK was also with the theme defensiveness but, in contrast to the broad European picture, Industry Momentum was largely neutral and Value was not as weak. In the Asia Pacific ex Japan universe, Fundamental Momentum and Size factors continued to outperform, while Quality and Low Risk were more muted, and Industry Momentum and Value lagged. Noteworthy, in Japan, Value and Quality were the best performing factors, while Size was the weakest factor. In the risk space, we note Growth drawdown alongside Value underperformance. Fund Commentary On a portfolio level, our exposures to Quality and Low Risk factors contributed to outperformance the most, while Value exposure was the key detractor to performance. Industries On an industry basis, our overweight allocations to Health Care Equipment & Services and Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment coupled with our underweight exposures to Energy and Banks contributed to performance. Conversely, our overweight allocations to Retailing and Insurance along with our underweight exposures to Software & Services and Materials weighed on performance. Countries On a country basis, our overweight allocations to Sweden and Israel coupled with our underweight exposures to Spain and Denmark contributed to performance. Conversely, an overweight allocation to Japan along with our underweight exposures to Canada and Finland weighed on performance. Stock Level On a stock level basis, our overweight allocations to Carrier Global (Industrials, USA) and Monolithic Pwr.sys. (Information Technology, USA) contributed to performance. Conversely, our overweight allocations to Paccar (Industrials, USA) and Logitech (Information Technology, CHE) along with our underweight exposures to Moderna (Health Care, USA) and Pfizer (Health Care, USA) weighed on performance. |

| Carbon Footprint | Fund | Reference Benchmark |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Carbon Intensity | 53.05 | 136.87 |

Translation (ENFR, 2021-07-31):
# les frais de gestion annuels et les frais de transaction sous-jacents et peut varier avec le temps.
| Empreinte carbone | Fonds | Indice de référence |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Intensité de Carbone | 53,05 | 136,87 |