FUND MANAGER Q&A:JENS PEERS, KBC Asset Management, www.kbcam.com
Belgian-born Jens Peers moved to Dublin in 2003, where he runs KBC Asset Management’s Water Fund*, the third-largest actively managed water fund in the world.
What is your investment approach?
We have a universe of about 120 water stocks that we can select from, and we drill that down to about 50 stocks for the portfolio.
The companies we select are the companies that we believe will give the best upside potential within a time horizon of three years . . .
Water utility companies, which operate water systems, make up about 30 per cent of the Water Fund at the moment. Water infrastructure companies, which manufacture pipes, valves and pumps, make up another 40 per cent. Within this infrastructure component, we also invest in construction companies that specialise in building water treatment and desalination plants.
The remaining 30 per cent is invested in water technologies, including filtration and leak detection.
How has your fund performed?
We aim at 3 to 5 per cent outperformance per year versus the broad market as measured by the MSCI World Index. Over the past five years, the Water Fund has delivered a return of 5 per cent a year, compared to a return of 1.3 per cent by the MSCI World.
What is your outlook?
I think the water sector looks attractive. There’s no substitute for water. We have no choice – we have to continue to invest in it, and there’s been historic underinvesting in this area . . .
About $8 billion (€5.9 billion) of the US infrastructure stimulus money announced last February is allocated to water. Only 10 per cent of this was allocated by the end of 2009, and the deadline for applications for development projects was in February, so we expect a lot of announcements in the next few weeks. That should lead to massive boosts for a lot of companies in this space.
* The Water Fund is available to retail investors exclusively through Bank of Ireland Life and New Ireland Assurance.
- In conversation with Caroline Madden
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