The Hague – October 18, 2019 – The Juno Selection Fund has ended the third quarter of 2019 with a negative 3.8% return. However, when measured over the first nine months of 2019, the fund’s net asset value has increased by +20.6%. This represents an outperformance of the comparable European index: the EMIX Smaller European Companies Index (net), which grew by +0.6% during the third quarter but returned +15.5% after three quarters this year. The Dutch AEX Index (dividends reinvested) increased by +4.2% over the past quarter and stands at +22.2% for the year.
 
On October 1st, it was exactly one year ago that the Juno Selection Fund closed for (follow-on) investments. Frans Jurgens, director and co-founder of Juno: “many people have asked us if and when the fund will open again. However, given the limited number of redemptions over these past 12 months, we have decided to not reopen the Juno Selection Fund for follow-ons or new subscriptions for the time being”. Of course, circumstances may warrant a re-evaluation of this decision at some point in the future.

The Juno Selection Fund focuses on small and medium-sized European (family-owned) companies.  Lennart Smits, director and co-founder of Juno: “We aim to select only those companies that, as a group, can continue to achieve predictable and stable earnings growth of 10-15% year after year. As in previous years, earnings growth in 2019 is again expected to fall within this bandwidth, despite the very low rate of inflation observed worldwide these days. This steady earnings growth keeps us confident that we can continue to achieve attractive returns for our participants”.

The quarterly report can be found here and the most recent factsheet here.

About Juno Investment Partners

Juno Investment Partners was established in 2007 as a fully independent fund manager and has an AIFM license (as referred to in Section 2:65 of the Wft), issued by the Dutch regulator AFM. Juno specializes in the selection of exceptional listed (family owned) companies in Europe. Companies that are able to achieve predictable and stable earnings growth year after year are considered for investment. The selection process focuses on the return on invested capital, a low debt ratio and free cash flows of a highly predictable nature. The analysts/portfolio managers compile a highly concentrated portfolio of approximately fifteen companies that they identify, analyze and visit regularly. Selected companies remain in the portfolio for a longer time period (usually more than five years). All analysts/portfolio managers have themselves invested in the Juno funds.

Juno offers three products: The Juno Selection Fund, which focuses on the selection of smaller and medium-sized listed companies, the Juno Continuation Fund for medium-sized companies and individual asset management using the same investment style, for larger clients through managed segregated accounts.

– The Juno Selection Fund was launched in 2008. This mutual fund invests in distinctive European small and medium-sized companies with an initial market capitalization of €250 million to €4 billion. In recent years, this investment style has resulted in above average investment returns for participants in the Juno Selection Fund. This fund has been hard closed for further (follow on) subscriptions since 2018.

– The same investment strategy is applied in the Juno Continuation Fund, which was launched on February 1, 2020. This fund focuses on unique, medium-sized European companies with a market value between €4 billion and €20 billion at the time of initial purchase. As is the case with the Selection Fund, the Continuation Fund also has a strong preference for investments in businesses that are family owned, or companies in which a family or management itself is also a shareholder.