Kennox Asset Management: Excellence in Risk-Focused Global Value Investing Europe 2026

Since its July 2007 launch, Kennox Asset Management has kept the same investment leaders, Charles Heenan and Geoff Legg, on a single long-only global equity strategy built around patient value investing rather than benchmark proximity. That continuity gives the firm’s risk discipline unusual visibility across market cycles.

Risk control begins at stock selection. The Kennox Strategic Value Fund avoids leverage, derivatives and hedging, and favours companies whose balance sheets, cash generation and valuations provide resilience when short-term earnings are under pressure. The approach is deliberately not deep value: the managers often avoid the cheapest stock in an unloved sector if its leverage is high.

Portfolio construction reinforces that caution. Kennox typically holds 20 to 40 stocks, with a current portfolio of around 30 names, an active share of about 99 percent and turnover usually below 15 percent a year. The fund may hold up to 20 percent cash when ideas are scarce.

Youngone illustrates the execution. Bought at about 4 times earnings with cash exceeding its market capitalisation, the investment case did not depend on precise timing of a recovery: valuation and balance sheet strength offered scope to withstand weak earnings while retaining upside if sentiment normalised.

Performance evidence supports the consistency of the method without obscuring its contrarian nature. Morningstar data for the A Acc share class showed a 31.6 percent 12-month return to 30 April 2026, while the managers’ own equity exposure remains almost entirely invested through the fund.

Kennox’s case rests on a coherent link between philosophy, governance and implementation: a stable team, concentrated conviction, low turnover and a clear refusal to compensate for uncertainty with financial leverage. The Capital Finance International (CFI.co) Judging Panel congratulates Kennox Asset Management on winning the Excellence in Risk-Focused Global Value Investing 2026 Award (Europe).