Skip Navigation Links

International Opportunities Fund

INVESTMENT OVERVIEW

Causeway International Opportunities Fund is a blend of Causeway’s best skill sets, a fund-of-funds that combines Causeway International Value Fund (bottom-up, fundamental, developed markets) and Causeway Emerging Markets Fund (quantitatively managed with a targeted tracking error of 5%). Our quantitative research team developed a multi-factor model that gauges the relative attractiveness of emerging markets, and guides the portfolio managers in tactically allocating between the two Funds.

Our developed markets exposure aims to add value through intensive fundamental research implemented via a disciplined value approach. Our emerging markets exposure is the result of a quantitative strategy tailored to the unique growth, momentum, and risk characteristics of developing markets. Our proprietary tactical allocation model is designed to add additional value.

The Causeway International Opportunities Fund is a fully invested portfolio, with 120-200 underlying holdings. Allocation between developed and emerging markets can range from 0-2x the allocation of the MSCI All Country World Index ex-US.

FUND FACTS as of 12/31/2011

 
INVESTOR CLASS
INSTITUTIONAL CLASS
Ticker Symbol
CIOVX
CIOIX
CUSIP
14949Q206
14949Q107
Inception Date
12/31/2009
12/31/2009
Share Class Assets
$167.2k
$7.4m
Minimum Investment
$5,000
$1,000,000
Sales Charge
None
None
Net Expense Ratio
1.44%
1.19%
Gross Expense Ratio
4.70%
3.82%
Dividend Frequency
Annual
Annual
Capital Gain Frequency
Annual
Annual
 
INVESTOR
INSTITUTIONAL
Daily Price
as of 2/22/2012
$10.92 (-0.04)
$10.94 (-0.04)
YTD:
13.75 %
13.84 %

Please click here for standardized and month-end Fund performance

The performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth less than their original cost and current performance may be lower than the performance quoted.

DAILY PERFORMANCE as of 2/22/2012

Class
Share Price
Change
Year
To Date
Inception
Date
Investor
$10.92
-0.04
13.75 %
12/31/2009
Institutional
$10.94
-0.04
13.84 %
12/31/2009

MONTHLY PERFORMANCE as of 1/31/2012

Class
Year
To Date
1 Year
3 Year
5 Year
Since
Inception
Inception
Date
Investor
7.81 %
-8.92 %
N/A
N/A
3.86 %
12/31/2009
Institutional
7.80 %
-8.74 %
N/A
N/A
4.11 %
12/31/2009

QUARTERLY PERFORMANCE as of 12/31/2011

Class
Year
To Date
1 Year
3 Year
5 Year
Since
Inception
Inception
Date
Investor
-12.76 %
-12.76 %
N/A
N/A
0.19 %
12/31/2009
Institutional
-12.59 %
-12.59 %
N/A
N/A
0.44 %
12/31/2009

ASSET ALLOCATION as of 12/31/2011

ALLOCATION
Equity
96.7%
Cash
3.3%

TOP TEN HOLDINGS as of 12/31/2011

Security
Country
Industry
% of Total
REED ELSEVIER NV
Netherlands
Media
3.1%
ROLLS-ROYCE GROUP PLC
United Kingdom
Capital Goods
3.1%
BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO PLC
United Kingdom
Food Beverage & Tobacco
3.0%
SANOFI
France
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology
2.6%
VODAFONE GROUP PLC
United Kingdom
Telecommunication Services
2.3%
AKZO NOBEL
Netherlands
Materials
2.3%
TOYOTA MOTOR CORP
Japan
Automobiles & Components
2.2%
LINDE AG
Germany
Materials
2.1%
JGC CORP
Japan
Capital Goods
2.0%
ROCHE HOLDING AG
Switzerland
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology
1.8%

*Holdings are subject to change

CHARACTERISTICS as of 12/31/2011

Fund
MSCI ACWI ex US
FY2 Price/ Earnings
7.8
9.0
Price/ Book Value
1.3
1.3
No. of Holdings
198
1,869
Wtd Avg Mkt Cap (Mn $US)
31,824
32,843

SECTOR WEIGHTS as of 12/31/2011

% of Total
MSCI ACWI ex-US
Capital Goods
13.8
7.4
Materials
13.3
11.9
Banks
8.0
13.9
Energy
7.4
10.9
Insurance
7.0
4.1
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology
6.9
6.1
Food Beverage & Tobacco
6.8
6.6
Telecommunication Services
5.4
6.6
Automobiles & Components
4.9
3.9
Transportation
4.5
2.2

TOP TEN COUNTRIES as of 12/31/2011

% of Total
MSCI ACWI ex-US
United Kingdom
17.1
15.2
Japan
11.7
15.9
France
10.0
6.2
Germany
8.1
5.3
Switzerland
7.5
5.9
South Korea
6.7
3.4
Netherlands
5.8
1.7
China
4.3
3.9
Brazil
3.2
3.3
Spain
2.9
2.4

Causeway International Opportunities Fund (the “Fund”) is a fund of funds that allocates substantially all of its assets in Causeway International Value Fund and Causeway Emerging Markets Fund ( the “underlying funds”). References to holdings and industries are based on the holdings of the underlying funds in proportion to the Fund’s allocation.

PEFORMANCE REVIEW for the quarter ended 09/30/11

Global equities performed poorly in the third quarter of calendar 2011. Every industry group and every developed and emerging stock market was in the red. The lack of resolution to the euro sovereign debt crisis and the increasing prospect of a global economic slowdown weighed on investor confidence. The Fund underperformed the MSCI All Country World Index ex-US (ACWI ex-US) this quarter. For US-based investors, international returns were negatively impacted by foreign currencies depreciating versus the US dollar. ACWI ex-US, measured in US dollars, underperformed ACWI ex-US in local currency by over 4.5% in the quarter. A “risk-off” mentality permeated markets globally: correlations rose dramatically, as evidenced by the Chicago Board Options Exchange Market Volatility Index (VIX), climbing into the mid-40s; emerging markets substantially underperformed developed markets; high-yield bond spreads widened; and commodity prices plunged. The flight-to-safety trade was on, sending yields on 10-year US Treasury bonds to the lowest level ever recorded. In this environment, economically defensive sectors (consumer staples, health care, and telecommunication services) significantly outperformed the most economically cyclical sectors (materials, financials, and industrials). As of the end of the period, the weight of Causeway International Value Fund, the developed markets portion of the Fund, was slightly greater than the developed markets weight in ACWI ex-US. This allocation had a neutral impact on performance for the quarter. The largest single detractor from absolute return this quarter was industrial conglomerate, Siemens (Germany). Investors abandoned stocks exposed to economic activity during the period—even this well-managed provider of automation, lighting, power generation, & health care equipment. We appreciate the company’s fortress-like balance sheet and well-positioned equipment financing division, which allows its customers access to Siemens’ products. Other notable top detractors to return included shipbuilder & heavy equipment manufacturer, Hyundai Heavy (South Korea), paint & industrial coatings manufacturer, Akzo Nobel (the Netherlands), and two French-domiciled financials firms: bank, BNP Paribas and insurer, Axa. One of the largest single positive contributors to absolute return this quarter was wireless telecommunication services company, Advanced Info Service (Thailand). Shares performed strongly upon expectations that the company will be awarded a 3G license. Other notable top contributors to return included pachinko game manufacturer, Sankyo (Japan), two technology companies, digital security firm, Gemalto (France) and recently purchased enterprise software company, SAP (Germany), and tobacco & ginseng products provider, KT&G (Korea).

*Fund exposures to holdings of underlying funds as of 9/30/11: Siemens (2.0%), Hyundai Heavy (1.0%), Akzo Nobel (2.0%), BNP Paribas (1.0%), Axa (1.0%), Advanced Info Service (0.4%), Sankyo (0.7%), Gemalto (1.1%), SAP (0.7%), and KT&G (2.7%). Holdings are subject to change; additionally current and future holdings are subject to risk.

Equity Allocation Model Update

We maintain a proprietary quantitative equity allocation model that assists the portfolio managers in determining the weight of emerging and developed markets stocks in our ACWI ex US portfolios. In constructing the model, we identified five primary factors as most indicative of the ideal allocation target: macroeconomic, risk aversion, earnings growth, valuation, and financial strength. The model’s outlook for emerging markets is currently favorable. On the positive side, our risk aversion factor, which looks at the emerging markets bond yield spread over U.S. Treasuries as well as the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), is signaling that investors have become overly fearful, which is positive going forward for risky asset classes like emerging markets. Our earnings growth factor, which looks at earnings revisions in developed versus emerging markets, is also positive on emerging. On the negative side, however, we have our macroeconomic factor, which measures the slope of the global yield curve. Currently, it is bearish for emerging markets as the slope is relatively flat compared to the historical slope. A flat yield curve signifies muted growth prospects as well as tight monetary conditions (at least in the emerging world). Also, our relative valuation factors indicate that the emerging markets appear to be fairly valued when compared to the developed markets.

The Fund is a fund of funds that allocates substantially all of its assets in Causeway International Value Fund and Causeway Emerging Markets Fund (the “underlying funds”). The above Positive and Negative Contributors and Significant Portfolio Changes are based on the holdings of the underlying funds in proportion to the Fund’s allocation.

DIVIDENDS

INVESTOR CLASS (CIOVX)
2011
$0.2487
2010
$0.1712
2009
$0.0000
INSTITUTIONAL CLASS (CIOIX)
2011
$0.2756
2010
$0.1858
2009
$0.0000

CAPITAL GAINS

SHORT-TERM CAPITAL GAINS
2011
$0.0000
2010
$0.0000
2009
$0.0000
LONG-TERM CAPITAL GAINS
2011
$0.0303
2010
$0.1712
2009
$0.0000

© Causeway Capital Management LLC 2011