Skip to main content

GAM Star Continental European Equity

A focused approach to European equity investing

View more Featured Funds
GAM Star Continental European Equity is an actively managed strategy aiming for long-term capital growth through a concentrated portfolio of European-listed companies (ex-UK). The high-conviction, style-agnostic approach is grounded in detailed fundamental analysis and a disciplined selection process. At its core is the All-in Return framework, which breaks down expected returns into earnings growth, cash return and valuation change - helping the team assess each opportunity clearly and consistently. The portfolio typically holds 30–35 companies, focusing on the most compelling investment opportunities.
We use our all-in framework, a consistent and repeatable approach we apply across the European market. It contains three components, adding our expectations of earnings growth, cash return and valuation change for a company to get to our all-in return for a stock."
GAM Investments' European Equities Team

Our Edge

Honesty. Integrity. Clarity.

Focusing on clear, direct communication and true partnership with investors. An open source approach.

All-in Return Framework

A disciplined, transparent approach that breaks down expected returns into earnings growth, cash returns and valuation change, helping to identify attractive opportunities across styles.

Concentrated Portfolio

Investing in 30-35 carefully selected companies allows for meaningful conviction and clarity, avoiding dilution from holding too many positions.

Style-Agnostic Process

The team focuses on the best ideas regardless of style labels like growth or value, capturing diverse sources of returns.

Investment Team

The European Equity Team comprises Tom O’Hara (Investment Director), Jamie Ross (Investment Manager) and David Barker (Investment Manager), who operate from London. With over 40 years of combined experience, they bring broad continuity and added depth to the investment process. The team is seasoned and stable, with deep expertise in European equities and a strong collaborative track record. Diversity of thought is central to their approach - they encourage open discussion, challenge each other's assumptions and conduct thorough research to support their investment decisions.

We want to be open-source. That means sharing our investment insights, process and return assumptions with clients.
David Barker, Investment Manager
Tom O'Hara
Investment Director
Jamie Ross
Investment Manager
David Barker
Investment Manager

Philosophy and Process

Investment Philosophy

Our approach is based on three key beliefs: first, that assessing company competence requires direct engagement and cannot be fully automated - insights come from meeting management teams, supported by research and AI tools. Second, quality must be considered in context, recognising that valuation matters and that the traditional performance of high-quality or pure-growth companies is no longer guaranteed in today’s rapidly changing environment. Third, understanding change is vital; our all-in return framework emphasises analysing shifts in earnings growth, cash generation and valuation, focusing on companies where our earnings expectations differ positively from the market, supported by ongoing dialogue with management to anticipate and assess these changes.

Investment Process

Our investment process is designed to be clear and easy to understand. Central to our approach is the all-in return framework, which breaks down the expected annualised return of an investment into three key components: earnings growth, cash return and valuation change. This detailed analysis allows us to thoroughly evaluate a stock’s potential to outperform the broader market. We follow a style-agnostic philosophy, meaning we do not favour ‘value’ or ‘growth’ stocks but instead select investments from a wide universe based solely on the strength of their underlying investment case. The portfolio is deliberately concentrated, typically consisting of 30 to 35 carefully chosen positions. Our focus is on generating returns primarily through rigorous stock selection, with sector and thematic positioning playing a smaller but complementary role.

1

Idea generation

  • A creative, unconstrained process
  • Agnostic about idea sources
  • Company meetings, experts, research, analysis tools
2

All-in return Framework

  • Forecasting three-year earnings growth
  • Evaluating shareholder cash returns
  • Estimating valuation adjustment over time
3

Portfolio construction

  • Driven by all-in return framework analysis
  • Higher return potential supports larger position sizes (subject to risk controls)
  • Active oversight of sector, thematic and risk-factor exposures
  • Balanced approach combining bottom-up insights with top-down risk management
4

Use of AI and tools

  • Optimise & empower investment process
  • Powerful on-desk research support & sector analysis
  • Supports bottom-up modelling process

Reasons to Invest

A generational opportunity for Europe

Europe is redefining itself amid a changing geopolitical reality. Infrastructure and defence spending are a starting point for more fiscal support. The valuation discount to the US remains very large by historical standards.

A robust and repeatable investment process

The all-in framework creates consistent analysis across stocks and sectors. It forces debate over relative position sizing and overall portfolio shape.

Risk Management fit for new market dynamics

Using a combination of MAC-3 risk analysis and thematic basket mapping, the team aim to better capture risk in a market increasingly driven by short-term factors.

A nimble approach to AI integration

AI tools are used to analyse data and increase the efficiency of the investment process. Innovation partnerships with AI tool providers help maintain a leading position in AI development within investment management.

Key Risks

Capital at risk

All financial investments involve an element of risk. Therefore, the value of the investment and the income from it will vary and the initial investment amount cannot be guaranteed.

Currency Risk - Non Base Currency Share Class

Non-base currency share classes may or may not be hedged to the base currency of the Fund. Changes in exchange rates will have an impact on the value of shares in the Fund which are not denominated in the base currency. Where hedging strategies are employed, they may not be fully effective.

Concentration Risk

Concentration in a limited number of securities and industry sectors may result in more volatility than investing in broadly diversified funds.

Equity

Investments in equities (directly or indirectly via derivatives) may be subject to significant fluctuations in value.

Counterparty / Derivatives Risk

If a counterparty to a financial derivative contract were to default, the value of the contract, the cost to replace it and any cash or securities held by the counterparty to facilitate it, may be lost.

ESG-Focused Investing Risk

Subject to the risk that adherence to the Sustainability Exclusion Criteria detailed in the Appendix to the Supplement may result in the exclusion of securities of certain issuers for reasons other than investment performance considerations. As a result, the Fund may underperform other funds that do not utilise sustainability exclusions. Successful application of the Fund’s Sustainability Exclusion Criteria will depend on data from third party sources and there can be no assurance that the strategy or techniques employed will be successful.

Fund Information

Our Thinking

Investment Opinions
Unlocking Opportunities in Emerging Markets
24 June 2025

Emerging market equities offer compelling opportunities, but demand selectivity. Investment Director Ygal Sebban highlights targeted areas of strength, driven by structural trends, policy support and valuation appeal.

Investment Opinions
Cleared for Takeoff – Takeaways from the 2025 Paris Airshow: Growing supply chain positivity
23 June 2025

Europe’s aerospace sector reaffirmed its global dominance at the 2025 Paris Airshow. Bolstered by strengthened supply chains, growing aftermarket demand and rising defence budgets amid geopolitical uncertainties, GAM's European Equity team believe the aerospace sector could be a high-flying opportunity for investors seeking attractive long-term growth.

Investment Opinions
A big, beautiful burden
17 June 2025

Global long-dated bond yields have jumped in recent weeks. This increases the cost of capital for economies and corporations. The main culprit is the US spending bill. Can it be reined in?

Our Thinking

Contact Us

If you would like us to contact you, or email you with further information, please complete the enquiry form below.

Contacts

Please visit our Contacts and Locations page.

x
x

Choose Language

Cancel OK
x

Before we search

You could get more results if you let us know where you are and what type of investor you are - self-certify. Until you do this we cannot show you any fund information.

Self-certify No thanks
x

Watchlist

Please login or register to add to your watchlist.

Register

Before you can proceed

The content you have requested is restricted in some jurisdictions.

Please select your investment profile to continue.

x

x

Fund Watchlist

Your watchlist has been updated.

My Funds
x

My Content

Your watchlist has been updated.

My Content
x

ds-dialog-title

Your watchlist has been updated.

x

You are now leaving the GAM Investments' website.

We are not responsible for the content or availability of linked sites.

Please click OK to continue or CANCEL to return.

OK Cancel