A Foreign Large-Growth Fund on Our Radar

Connor Young: Although Chautauqua International Growth only launched in 2016, lead manager Brian Beitner has successfully executed this strategy through a separate account--Baird Chautauqua International Growth--since 2006. Beitner launched this strategy while at TCW Group, where he worked under veteran investor Glen Bickerstaff. In 2009, he took the record with him and founded Chautauqua Capital Management; the firm was acquired by Baird in 2016 but is still run autonomously.

Beitner, now backed by a team of five that includes two former TCW colleagues, continues to seek companies with sustainable competitive advantages that can benefit from long-term trends. Expect volatility here; the portfolio is concentrated with just 30 to 40 stocks, and Beitner doesn't mind paying up for firms with his preferred characteristics. Indeed, since the fund's April 2016 inception through August 2018, it's had a higher standard deviation than the foreign large-growth Morningstar Category average. However, investors have been well-compensated for that risk: The fund outperformed its typical peer on a total and risk-adjusted basis during that time.

While fees are above average, they stand to come down as assets grow. This fund is on our radar.