Guinness Global Equity Income Fund
The Guinness Global Equity Income strategy is designed to provide income and capital growth by investing in companies that can pay sustainable, growing dividends.
Overview
The Guinness Global Equity Income Fund is designed to provide income and capital growth by investing in companies that can pay sustainable, growing dividends
Dividend-paying equities offer an attractive combination of liquidity and yield. While the potential for income is important for many investors, the case for global equity income goes much further.
Thanks to the power of compounding, re-invested dividends make a gradual but potent contribution to long-term returns. Historic equity market returns show that over long timeframes this rises to significantly over 50 per cent. In periods of low growth this can be even more striking. The 1940s and 1970s, for example, were periods defined by some combination of sluggish economic growth, rising inflation, and high unemployment. During these decades dividends accounted for over 75 per cent of the total returns of the S&P500.
The effect of dividends is apparent when comparing historic long-term returns of stocks which pay dividends with those that have not. Not only have dividend-payers outperformed on average, but dividend-growers and initiators have outperformed further still.
In addition to the compounding effect, part of the reason for this lies in the nature of dividend-paying companies. First, a history of paying a dividend – which unlike many accounting figures is a ‘hard’ cash payment – can indicate past value creation by a company. Moreover, a long history of paying dividends can instil capital discipline in company management. A commitment to a dividend leaves no room for vanity projects or frivolous uses of shareholders’ capital. A focused management team that uses the cash available to them efficiently is central to creating a well-run (and profitable) company that is able to grow and thrive in the future.
The array of companies around the world paying dividends has increased significantly in recent years. Investors can now find a range of dividend-paying companies giving genuine global diversification and exposure to a healthy range of industries in a portfolio.
Industrials: Sector & Stocks
With a breadth of exposure, the Industrials sector is often perceived as a barometer for the economy. In this insight, the Guinness Global Equity Income team explores the make-up of the sector and the quality characteristics which have resulted in the overweight position in the portfolio. They also explore a handful of enduring secular growth trends which are helping to reduce the Industrials’ cyclicality and drive more sustainable long-term earnings growth.
Investment Team
High quality funds are run by high quality people.
We are proud of our collegial culture, with teams across the business benefiting from each other’s expertise as they target long-term returns for investors.
2025 Investor Conferences
As political winds change but the battle against inflation continues, join our fund managers for a series of professional investor conferences.
Register your interest now for a rewarding half-day of investment ideas and expert opinion at locations around the UK.
Awards & Ratings
We have a firm commitment to delivering the very best. That commitment is reflected in the awards we have received, some of which are shown below.
Guinness Global Equity Income Fund
AA Rating
Square Mile Investment Consulting & Research Limited
Guinness Global Equity Income Fund
Rated Fund
RSMR
Guinness Global Equity Income Fund
Elite Rated Provider
FundCalibre
Guinness Global Equity Income Fund
A-Rated Fund (Germany)
Scope
Guinness Global Equity Income Fund
A-Rated Fund (Austria)
Scope
Guinness Global Equity Income Fund
A-Rated Fund (Switzerland)
Scope
Guinness Global Equity Income Fund
Finalist IW Fund Manager of the Year Awards - Global Income
Investment Week
Guinness Global Equity Income Fund
Gold Award
Portfolio Adviser - International Equity Income
Guinness Global Equity Income Fund
BEST FUND OVER 3 YEARS
Equity Sector Global Income
How to Invest
We aim to make it simple to invest in our funds. All our funds are open to direct investment via an application form. They are widely available on investment platforms and are eligible for UK investors’ ISAs and SIPPs.
Investment Case
Our approach to investing in dividend-paying companies is to focus on companies that can sustainably grow their dividend into the future, rather than simply looking for companies with a high dividend yield. Consistent high return on capital is a good indicator of a company’s ability to pay healthy dividends and so we invest in companies that are unusually consistent in generating returns on capital above their cost of capital.
We focus on ‘bottom-up’ stock selection rather than trying to make decisions based on an expected outlook for the world economy. We like to invest in good companies that have, in the short term, fallen out of favour, but that have previously shown an ability to weather most economic environments over time. We prefer to invest over the long term. We also recognise the increased costs of trading in and out of companies unnecessarily. Typically we will hold a company for between 3 and 5 years in a portfolio of 35 companies, with broadly equal amounts invested in each.
Why invest in the Guinness Global Equity Income Fund?
The Fund is designed to provide investors with exposure to global equities through a high conviction, low turnover portfolio of consistently profitable dividend-paying companies.
The case for a Global Equity Income Fund
How do we construct the portfolio?
Focus on consistent high return on capital
Consistent high return on capital is a good indication of a company’s ability to pay healthy dividends. The Fund invests in companies that are unusually consistent in generating returns on capital above their cost of capital.
Growth and income
Our approach to dividend investing is to focus on companies that can sustainably grow their dividend into the future, rather than simply looking for companies with a high dividend yield.
High conviction
The Fund typically invests in just 35 companies, with each company having a broadly equal weighting. This provides a good balance between the benefits of diversification while also allowing each company to add meaningfully to performance. We don’t have a long tail of small positions and by definition we can never just ‘hug’ the benchmark index.
Fundamentally driven
We focus on ‘bottom-up’ stock selection rather than trying to make decisions based on an expected outlook for the world economy. We like to invest in good companies that have, in the short term, fallen out of favour, but that have previously shown an ability to weather most economic environments over time.
Low turnover
We prefer to invest over the long term. We also recognise the increased costs of trading in and out of companies unnecessarily. Typically we will hold a company in the portfolio for between 3 and 5 years.
Repeatable and independent
Ian Mortimer and Matthew Page have managed the Fund since launch. They have developed an investment process that is clear, robust, transparent, and scalable. Their approach filters out much of the noise and hype that surrounds companies to focus on the true signals that drive company valuations. By performing their own company research and analysis, using their own proprietary modelling systems, the managers try to avoid some of the behavioural biases associated with being unduly influenced by market sentiment.
The case for a global equity income fund
"Dividends make a gradual but potent contribution to long-term returns."
Dividend growers have outperformed for 30 years
Efficient use of cash is paramount in creating a well-run, profitable company that will thrive. Management discipline is required to maintain dividend growth and can be a signal of a well-run company. Using the example of the US stock market, the evidence for this is clear in the returns of dividend paying and non-dividend paying companies over the last forty years. It is also informative to note that companies that cut their dividend were the worst performing group over this period –illustrating that not all dividend-paying companies are created equal.
Power of compounding
For investors, reinvesting dividends delivers a significant proportion of your total return. And in periods of low growth this can be even more striking. The 1940s and 1970s, for example, were periods defined by some combination of sluggish economic growth, rising inflation, and high unemployment. During these decades dividends accounted for over 75% of the total returns of the S&P500.
Dividends can protect against inflation
Looking again at the US as an example, dividends in the US stock market have grown at an average 6% per year since the 1940s, while inflation grew at 4%. Investing in dividend-paying companies can protect against inflation over long periods: the income received in dividend payments has grown in line or at a higher rate than inflation.
Global diversity
The array of stocks around the world paying dividends has increased significantly in the last decade. We can now invest in a basket of dividend-paying companies that gives you genuine global diversity and exposure to a healthy range of industries in your portfolio. In contrast, just six companies now account for over 40% of all dividend payments in the UK.
How do we run the Fund?
“We don’t chase yield, we want capital and dividend growth.”
Although the Fund is designed to invest in dividend-paying companies, our starting point in selecting our investment universe is to identify companies with consistently high return on capital. Specifically we look at companies that have a return on capital of greater than 10% in each of the previous ten years.
Our analysis shows that companies with persistently high return on capital are highly likely to continue to do so in the future – meaning they will continue to create shareholder value.
Why 10% and why ten years?
10% return on capital…
10% is well above the average real cost of capital of 6%. This means companies who achieve this level are truly creating value for their shareholders.
…every year…
Consistency each year excludes highly cyclical companies or those with high but declining or volatile earnings.
…for ten years
Because business cycles tend to last less than ten years, the companies in our investible universe have shown they can weather most economic environments.
On average, only 3% of global listed companies achieve our threshold. We then exclude those less than $1 billion in size or with a debt to equity ratio greater than 1. This gives us a pool of around 400 companies from which to build our portfolio.
“It's a rare achievement for a company to meet our investment criteria and we think it shows a mark of genuine quality. And this is where our portfolio starts – consistent high return on capital.”
What about yield?
Companies that earn a consistent high return on capital often distribute a proportion of cash they create in the form of a dividend. In the Fund, however, we focus on those companies that can sustainably grow their dividend into the future.
From this pool we then select candidates for extended research on the basis of value and sentiment. In depth proprietary modelling of a company’s cash flow, capital budgeting and potential for dividend growth is combined with a subjective analysis of its business model to identify candidates for inclusion in the final portfolio.
By selecting companies from a broad range of industries, countries, and market capitalisation we aim to create a well-diversified portfolio which can provide a reasonable dividend yield and growing income stream at an attractive valuation relative to the broad market.
Sell discipline
It is often easier to find companies to buy that look cheap than it is to identify those companies you own which should be sold. We consider sell discipline as important as selecting companies for purchase and continuously monitor the companies we hold in the Fund. The six core reasons we may sell a company are outlined below.
- The company fails to continue to meet our return on capital criteria
- The valuation becomes too rich
- The balance sheet becomes stretched
- The dividend outlook or management policy to dividends changes unfavourably
- The original investment thesis no longer holds
- Yield contribution to the portfolio is insufficient
How do we construct the portfolio
The Guinness Global Equity Income Fund is a concentrated portfolio of 35 approximately equally weighted stocks. This provides a number of useful attributes:
Reduced Risk
It reduces stock-specific risk, as we will not be overweight in a small number of favourite companies.
High Performance
We will not have a long tail of small holdings in the portfolio, which can be a distraction and a potential drag on performance.
Independent
We are truly index independent. All companies held are given equal target weights without regard to their weighting in the benchmark index, leading the portfolio to have a high active share.
Discipline
It instills a strong sell discipline as we must typically sell a position in order to make way for a new one; and we must constantly assess the companies we own in the portfolio in comparison to the rest of the universe available to us.
Updates
KIIDS
| Fund | Class | ISIN | English | French | German | Spanish | Italian | Swedish | Finnish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | Y EUR Dist | IE00BVYPP024 | Download | ||||||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | Z USD Acc | IE0001B1ARB7 | Download | ||||||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | Z USD Dist | IE000YRPM569 | Download | ||||||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | Z EUR Acc | IE000RSQ6GD6 | Download | ||||||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | Z EUR Dist | IE00051OJYP3 | Download | ||||||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | Z GBP Acc | IE000P7D8CD0 | Download | ||||||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | C CNH Hedged Dist | IE000OP91FK6 | Download | ||||||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | Z GBP Dist | IE00B754QH41 | Download | ||||||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | Y USD Dist | IE00BVYPP248 | Download | ||||||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | Y USD Acc | IE00BVYPNX17 | Download | ||||||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | Y GBP Dist | IE00BVYPP131 | Download | ||||||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | Y GBP Acc | IE00BVYPNY24 | Download | ||||||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | C EUR Acc | IE00BGHQF631 | Download | ||||||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | Y EUR Acc | IE00BVYPNZ31 | Download | ||||||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | I USD Dist | IE00BGK8P991 | Download | ||||||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | I USD Acc | IE00BJBK7883 | Download | ||||||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | D USD Dist | IE00B3QG6N78 | Download | ||||||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | D EUR Dist | IE00B66B5L40 | Download | ||||||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | D EUR Acc | IE00BDGV0290 | Download | ||||||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | C USD Dist | IE00B42XCP33 | Download | ||||||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | C USD Acc | IE00BVYPNW00 | Download | ||||||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | C GBP Dist | IE00B3PB1722 | Download | ||||||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | C GBP Acc | IE00BVYPNV92 | Download | ||||||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | C EUR Dist | IE00BDGV0183 | Download |
KIDS
| Fund | Class | ISIN | English | French | German | Spanish | Italian | Swedish | Finnish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | C GBP Acc | IE00BVYPNV92 | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | |
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | D EUR Dist | IE00B66B5L40 | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download |
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | C EUR Dist | IE00BDGV0183 | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download |
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | D EUR Acc | IE00BDGV0290 | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download |
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | C EUR Acc | IE00BGHQF631 | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download |
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | Y USD Acc | IE00BVYPNX17 | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download |
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | Y EUR Acc | IE00BVYPNZ31 | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download |
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | Y EUR Dist | IE00BVYPP024 | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download |
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | Y USD Dist | IE00BVYPP248 | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download |
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | C USD Dist | IE00B42XCP33 | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | |
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | Z GBP Dist | IE00B754QH41 | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download |
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | C CNH Hedged Dist | IE000OP91FK6 | Download | Download | Download | Download | |||
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | C GBP Dist | IE00B3PB1722 | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | |
| Guinness Global Equity Income Fund | D USD Dist | IE00B3QG6N78 | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download |
Documents
Fund Facts
For information on the Fund’s current investments, please see the latest factsheet available on the literature tab above.
The Guinness Global Equity Income strategy is also available to UK investors as a UK-domiciled vehicle denominated in GBP: the WS Guinness Global Equity Income Fund.
Matthew Page (31/12/2010)
Share Classes
For full information on the share classes available for investment please refer to the Key Investor Information document.
Share Prices
The Funds are priced every working day at 23.00 Dublin time and updated here the following day.
Global dividends, sustainability and a happy 10 year anniversary
Fund Profile – Guinness Global Equity Income
HUMMING ALONG
FUN FACT
Q: What is the average weight of a hummingbird?
A: 4.5 grams.
HUMMING ALONG
FUN FACT
Q: What is unique about a hummingbird's flight abilities?
A: They are the only bird who can fly backwards.
HUMMING ALONG
FUN FACT
Q: Is a hummingbird faster than a cheetah?
A: Hummingbirds are the fastest animals on earth relative to their body size. They are faster than a cheetah or even a fighter jet on this basis.
TRUMPETING BOTH INCOME AND CAPITAL GROWTH
FUN FACT
Q: How many litres of water can elephants keep in their trunks?
A: 8 Litres.
TRUMPETING BOTH INCOME AND CAPITAL GROWTH
FUN FACT
Q: How many decibels does a trumpeting elephant produce?
A: Elephants are highly intelligent and use many sounds for communication. The most famous is the trumpeting sound that they make when excited, distressed, or angry. They are also known to produce very loud infrasonic sounds that can travel up to 10 miles. The frequency of these rumbling sounds is below the audible range of humans, but their loudness is around 117 db.
A NOSE FOR GLOBAL EQUITY INCOME
FUN FACT
Q: How long is an anteater's tongue?
A: 2 feet/60.96cms.
A NOSE FOR GLOBAL EQUITY INCOME
FUN FACT
Q: How many insects can an anteater eat in a day?
A: An anteater eats around 30,000 insects a day. To make this possible, giant anteaters can flick their long tongues in and out of their mouths up to 150 times per minute, which is more than twice a second!
How to Invest
We’ve tried to make investing in our Funds as simple as possible. All of our funds are available to invest directly via an application form, we also have good availability across a number of investment supermarkets whilst being eligible for ISAs & SIPPs.
Guinness Global Equity Income Fund is an equity fund. Investors should be willing and able to assume the risks of equity investing. Further details on the risk factors are included in the Fund’s documentation, available on our website. The value of an investment and the income from it can fall as well as rise as a result of market and currency movement; you may not get back the amount originally invested. Past performance does not predict future returns.
Simulated past performance: performance prior to the launch date of the Y class (11.03.15) is a composite simulation for Y class performance being based on the actual performance of the Fund’s E class (1.24% Ongoing Charges Figure - OCF). Source: FE fundinfo. Investors should note that fees and expenses are charged to the capital of the Fund. This reduces the return on your investment by an amount equivalent to the OCF. The current OCF for the share class used for the fund performance returns is 0.77%. Returns for share classes with a different OCF will vary accordingly. Transaction costs also apply and are incurred when a fund buys or sells holdings. The performance returns do not reflect any initial charge; any such charge will also reduce the return.