United StatesPerformance and Portfolio Update
- The Pax Global Environmental Markets Fund underperformed the MSCI ACWI in the third quarter. Year-to-date, which includes a strong first half of the year, the Fund remains ahead of MSCI ACWI.
- Equity markets were again driven by a steady mix of negative and positive economic and geopolitical newsflow. This continued uncertainty led defensive areas of the portfolio, such as Utilities and Health Care sectors, to generate positive returns during the period. Regionally, European portfolio holdings held up the best while U.S. holdings were marked down the most. Overall, portfolio company earnings announcements have been as expected, or better, this year.
- The biggest headwinds to performance during the quarter came from holdings in Energy Efficiency, particularly Industrial Energy Efficiency. This was due to some negative stock-specific news, but also sentiment driven by concerns about the strength of the global economy, trade war news, or profit taking.
- Also, detracting during the period were software-related businesses active in the “˜connected factory’ and agricultural technology. PTC (Industrial Energy Efficiency, U.S.) saw slower than expected new subscriptions and weakness in certain non-core geographies resulting in weak quarterly results and pushed out long-term targets. Trimble (Sustainable & Efficient Agriculture, U.S.) suffered from slowing end markets despite good progress on increased software content.
- Suez (Water Utilities, France) and American Water Works (Water Utilities, U.S.) were top contributors to returns. Suez’s new management team spoke positively about the ability to improve return on capital and cash flow, and thus earnings, at the company. American Water Works benefited from both its status as a defensive holding in a volatile market environment and the decline in long term interest rates.
- Demonstrating the strength of the Fund’s investment thesis against the backdrop of weaker end markets, Aptiv (Transport Energy Efficiency, U.S.) shares rose with organic growth forecast to be ahead of global automotive market production this year.
- Market volatility looks likely to continue in the final quarter of the year and into 2020. Shorter-term sector and style rotations are part of equity market moves as investors digest and price in economic data and other news. The investment team continues to take advantage of stock price moves. Portfolio diversification remains important; by theme, end market, catalyst, role in the economic cycle, and region. The team believes the Fund’s defensive tilt within the investable universe is appropriate for these market conditions and should help portfolio resiliency through an unsettled market environment ahead.
- The portfolio managers believe that recent additions to the portfolio, in areas such as healthy food ingredients, and software technology that enables resource efficiency, position the portfolio to benefit from related thematic drivers. Current valuations are more reasonable, and forward earnings growth for the Fund continues to be projected higher than the MSCI ACWI.
Performance(as of 9/30/19) | Returns (%) | Average Annual Returns (%) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-Month | Quarter | YTD | 1 Year | 3 Year | 5 Year | 10 Year | Since Inception1 | |
| Global Environmental Markets Fund - Investor Class | 2.92 | -2.14 | 17.49 | 1.54 | 7.60 | 7.06 | 8.21 | 5.56 |
| Global Environmental Markets Fund - Class A | 2.92 | -2.15 | 17.43 | 1.47 | 7.61 | 7.04 | 8.21 | 5.56 |
| Global Environmental Markets Fund - Institutional Class | 2.96 | -2.07 | 17.73 | 1.73 | 7.87 | 7.32 | 8.48 | 5.83 |
| MSCI ACWI (Net) Index | 2.10 | -0.03 | 16.20 | 1.38 | 9.71 | 6.65 | 8.35 | 5.34 |
| FTSE Environmental Opportunities Index Series | 3.45 | 0.00 | 19.58 | 5.21 | 11.06 | 8.70 | 9.40 | - |
Performance data quoted represent past performance, which does not guarantee future results. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. To obtain performance for the most recent month-end call 800.767.1729 or visit paxstaging.wpengine.com
Figures include reinvested dividends, capital gains distributions and changes in principal value.
1The inception date for the Pax Global Environmental Markets Fund Institutional Class and the Investor Class is March 27, 2008. The Class A shares inception date is May 1, 2013.
Total annual Global Environmental Markets Fund operating expenses, gross of any fee waivers or reimbursements, for Institutional Class, Investor Class and Class A shares are 0.99%, 1.24%, and 1.24%, respectively, as of 5/1/2019 prospectus. Total annual Global Environmental Markets Fund operating expenses, net of any fee waivers, reimbursements and acquired fund fees and expenses, for Institutional Class, Investor Class, and Class A shares were 0.99%, 1.24% and 1.24%, respectively.
The performance information shown for Class A represents the performance of the Investor Class shares for the period prior to Class A inception. Expenses have not been adjusted to reflect the expenses allocable to Class A shares. Class A inception date return since May 1, 2013 is 7.98% (annualized). A 1.00% CDSC (contingent deferred sales charge) may be charged on any shares sold within 18 months of purchase over $1 million. POP (public offering price) reflects the maximum sales load for the Fund’s Class A Shares of 5.50%.
Performance(as of 9/30/19) | Returns (%) | Average Annual Returns (%) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-Month | Quarter | YTD | 1 Year | 3 Year | 5 Year | 10 Year | Since Inception1 | |
| Global Environmental Markets Fund - Class A (Load) | -2.76 | -7.52 | 10.98 | -4.10 | 5.60 | 5.83 | 7.60 | 5.05 |
Performance AttributionGlobal Industry Classification Standard† Sectors(for quarter ended 9/30/19) Average Active Weights (%) | Total Relative Contribution (%) |
|---|---|
 |  |
†The Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) is a standardized classification system for equities developed jointly by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) and Standard & Poor’s. The GICS methodology is used by the MSCI indexes, which include domestic and international stocks, as well as by a large portion of the professional investment management community.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Performance AttributionEnvironmental Markets Classification | Total Relative Contribution (%) |
|---|---|
 |  |
XThe Environmental Markets Classification System (EMCS) is a comprehensive global classification system for environmental markets. Environmental market companies are defined as providing products and services that deliver solutions to environmental challenges, and include environmental technology. Relative results of the Fund compared to the FTSE Environmental Opportunities All Shares Index. Source: FTSE.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Portfolio Characteristics(as of 9/30/19) | Fund | MSCI ACWI |
|---|---|---|
| Market Cap (weighted avg.)∱ | $26,197M | $163,267M |
| Forward Price/Earnings∼ | 17.33 | 16.13 |
| ROE∘ | 17.97 | 19.11 |
| Beta∞ | 1.12 | 1.00 |
| Number of Securities | 49 | 2,849 |
Top 10 Holdings
(as of 9/30/19)
Linde PLC 3.7%, Waste Management, Inc. 3.6%, Schneider Electric SE 3.5%, Siemens AG 3.4%, Suez 3.3%, Agilent Technologies, Inc. 3.1%, Xylem, Inc. 3.0%, TE Connectivity, Ltd. 3.0%, East Japan Railway Co. 3.0% and Ingersoll-Rand PLC 3.0%. Holdings are subject to change.
Definitions
ƒWeighted Average is an average in which each quantity to be averaged is assigned a weight. These weightings determine the relative importance of each quantity on the average.
~Forward Price-Earnings Ratio or P/E FY1 ratio is a ratio for valuing a company that measures its current share price relative to its per-share earnings over the next 12 months.
°Return on Equity: The amount of net income returned as a percentage of shareholders’ equity. Return on equity measures a corporation’s profitability by revealing how much profit a company generates with the money shareholders have invested.
∞A historical Beta is used for Funds with greater than two years of performance history under the same mandate. Three year Beta is used. Beta reflects the sensitivity of a Fund’s return to fluctuations in its benchmark; A beta for a benchmark is 1.00: A beta greater than 1.00 indicates above-average volatility and risk.
The statements and opinions expressed are those of the author as of the date of this report. All information is historical and not indicative of future results and subject to change. This information is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
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