First Eagle Amundi
Global markets over the past 25 years have been witness to an astonishing range of developments. Across disparate investment backdrops, we believe the investment strategy offered by First Eagle Amundi since 1996 has remained a time-tested “all weather” solution that seeks to preserve and grow wealth over the long term.
A Longstanding Partnership
Strategic partners for over 20 years, First Eagle & Amundi seek to offer premium core long term wealth management solutions around the world. Amundi is the exclusive global distributor outside North America of some of First Eagle’s most successful investment strategies, representing today over $8 billion AUM with clients in more than 40 countries. Having no capitalistic link with Amundi, First Eagle functions as the investment manager of the First Eagle Amundi funds and continues to seek to provide clients with the potential for wealth preservation and appreciation for years to come.
Source: Amundi as of 30/09/2023
Investment Philosophy
We believe that the market episodically fails to recognize, in our view, a company’s intrinsic value; we selectively invest when price presents what we believe to be an appropriate “margin of safety.” We seek persistent businesses that embody asset scarcity, strong capital structures and corporate resilience.
Our fundamental, bottom-up approach requires a temperament focused on: patience, humility and flexibility.
Absolute Return Mindset
Dedication to mitigate downside risk. We seek to avoid the permanent impairment of capital and aim to generate long-term positive absolute returns across market cycles.
Strategic Allocation to Gold and Cash
Our flexible cash and cash equivalent allocation is a residual of equity selection; we hold gold-related securities1 as a potential hedge against market dislocations.
Flexible, Benchmark-Agnostic Approach
Ability to invest across asset classes, regions, sectors/industries, market-capitalization ranges, and without regard to a benchmark.
How could one find opportunities or identify value?
First Eagle takes an atypical approach to identifying value. Rather than dogmatically limiting our investment universe to only stocks deemed cheap by some statistical measure, the Global Value team lets the character of each business dictate its potential appeal as an investment. By making the quantification of price conditional to our fundamental appraisal of an organization’s specific tangible and intangible attributes, “value” becomes a big tent rather than an artificial constraint.
How does First Eagle view the value universe?
Selectivity is at the heart of what we do. In this video, Matt McLennan, co-head of the Global Value team, explains how we distinguish between value and valuation within the global opportunity set by seeking cash-flow generative businesses with compelling risk/return profiles.
Our Process
The investment team follows a bottom-up, fundamental approach, focusing on companies with businesses which it believes both exhibit sustainable profitability and are trading at significant discounts to their “Intrinsic Values.”
Additionally, the team has the flexibility to invest in non-equity securities, including cash and cash equivalents, corporate debt, short-term government bonds and gold-related securities1.
We seek to avoid companies with high valuations, high levels of leverage, “black box” balance sheets, vulnerable business models, and/or aggressive management behavior.
Selective Participation
1. Scarcity
- We look for companies that exhibit scarcity through intangible and tangible assets associated with their businesses that may result in strong demand advantages and/or lasting supply advantages.
- We believe that scarcity of assets is the foundation of durability.
2. Durability
- Businesses with durability generally have long duration, scarce assets, strong capital structures and management with prudent mindsets.
- Scarce and durable assets overlaid with a strong capital structure and strong management teams may result in what we view as attractive companies that potentially produce persistent earnings.
3. Persistence
- Once we have identified a company with demonstrated persistence, we look for the intersection of attractive price and timing to selectively participate.
4. "Margin of Safety”
- Buy and sell decisions are based on our estimates of a company’s “intrinsic value” and “margin of safety”2—the difference between its market value and our estimate.
Meet the First Eagle team
Matthew McLennan,
Co-Head of Global Value Team and Portfolio Manager
Kimball Brooker Jr,
Co-Head of Global Value & Team and Portfolio Manager
- Industry start: 1991
- Year Joined: 2008
- Previous role with Goldman Sachs, and Queensland Inv. Corp.
- Master from University of Queensland
- Industry start: 1992
- Year Joined: 2009
- Previous role with Corsair Capital, JP Morgan and Lazard Frères
- MBA from Harvard
Julien Albertini,
Portfolio Manager and Senior Research Analyst
Manish Gupta,
Portfolio Manager and Senior Research Analyst
- Industry start: 2002
- Year Joined: 2013
- Previous role with Tiger Veda, Generation Inv. and Rothschild
- MBA from Columbia
- Industry start: 2005
- Year Joined: 2009
- Previous role with Cantillon, Microsoft and Cisco
- MBA from Columbia
Latest Insights & Media
Monthly Portfolio Manager Video
Hear how a First Eagle Portfolio Manager is digesting the latest trends in markets and what it means for the portfolios.
Monthly Commentary
Read the latest updates on markets, performance and activity in the First Eagle Amundi funds.
Fund Intel - Did You Know? A 5-minute Read
Did you know? covering themes that are top of mind for the investment community at large.
Quarterly Commentary
Comprehensive update on the First Eagle Amundi International Fund including macro perspectives, fund activity and performance.
Celebrating three years!
In honor of the 3 Year Anniversary of the FEA Sustainable Value Fund, we sat down with Portfolio Manager Julien Albertini to hear what he believes makes this fund unique and what he is most excited about going forward
Quality Never Goes Out of Style
Read about how First Eagle approaches new opportunities in the market in the article "Quality Never Goes Out of Style".
Discover more
First Eagle Amundi Funds
First Eagle Amundi Sustainable Value Fund is a typical First Eagle Global Value approach for a global equity portfolio with a stringent sustainable investing process. Fundamental, bottom-up, value-bias investing in high quality companies globally to help built a resilient performance over time, especially in adverse market phases. Partnering with Amundi for a systematic integration of ESG for an Article 8 SFDR, valuation-driven portfolio, that brings diversification against thematic and/or growth-oriented offering. This approach has been awarded the Belgian “Towards Sustainability” label + 5* Morningstar Sustainability Rating + Morningstar Low Carbon Designation.
First Eagle Amundi Sustainable Value Fund
First Eagle Amundi International Fund (the “Fund3”) is a bottom up driven global multi asset fund. This core wealth management solution seeks to grow the purchasing power of capital over the long term. Aiming to minimize the risk of permanent capital loss, the Fund invests primarily in global equities through a benchmark agnostic value approach implemented in a flexible, broadly diversified portfolio. This approach is complemented by an exposure to gold related securities as a potential hedge against adverse market events and as a longer term store of value.
First Eagle Amundi International Fund
First Eagle Amundi Income Builder Fund (the “Fund3”) is a bottom up driven global multi asset income fund. The fund seeks to preserve the purchasing power of capital over the long term while generating a meaningful level of income over time. Aiming to minimize the risk of permanent capital loss, the Fund primarily invests in dividend paying equities and credit fixed income through a time tested, benchmark agnostic value approach. This approach is complemented by an exposure to gold related securities as a potential hedge against adverse market events and as a longer term store of value.
First Eagle Amundi Income Builder Fund
Disclosures
1 First Eagle Amundi International Fund, First Eagle Amundi Sustainable Value and First Eagle Amundi Income Builder Fund do not invest directly in commodities; exposure to commodities is obtained through Gold-Related Securities in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
2 Not all companies held in this strategy will meet the criteria listed.
First Eagle defines "margin of safety" as the difference between a company's market price and our estimate of its intrinsic value. An investment made with a margin of safety is no guarantee against loss.
“Intrinsic value” is based on our judgment of what a prudent and rational business buyer would pay in cash for all of the company in normal markets.
3 The Sub-Fund does not offer performance or capital guarantee.
Risk Disclosures
All investments involve the risk of loss of principal.
There are risks associated with investing in securities of foreign countries, such as erratic market conditions, economic and political instability and fluctuations in currency exchange rates.
Investment in gold-related securities present certain risks and returns on gold related investments have traditionally been more volatile than investments in broader equity or debt markets.
The principal risk of investing in value stocks is that the price of the security may not approach its anticipated value or may decline in value.
Date of first use: September 2023
Doc ID: #3005075