The recent market environment has been shaped by geopolitical tensions, sector rotations and shifting growth expectations. As a result, global equity strategies with a growth bias have experienced a more challenging period in terms of relative performance. However, the current environment may create a combination of structural growth and more attractive valuations. We take a short look at how our DPAM B Equities NEWGEMS Sustainable actively managed fund has fared and discuss our perspective on its outlook.

What happens when conflicts far from Europe result in strikes on the continent and threaten European citizens, defence, companies and supply chains? With Iran’s drone attack on a British base in Cyprus, this recent escalation of the conflict demonstrates that Europe can be a target and that the continent’s economic footprint abroad carries direct security consequences. As geopolitical tensions increase and spread, defence continues to move to the centre of Europe’s strategic agenda.

For much of the past five years, EU small caps have lived in the market’s coldest corner. 2025 effectively marked a fifth consecutive year in which smaller European companies lagged their large-cap peers, an anomaly that defies decades of market patterns.