The International Growth Fund fell –0.1% in July, compared to its benchmark of +3.2%.    

Icon (+19.6%) and its clinical outsourcing peers had a strong month as end demand for clinical research has stabilised following several quarters of weakness, as pharmaceutical and biotech customers optimise spend in the face of competitive and regulatory headwinds. Icon anticipates the backdrop to continue improving as we go through the year. 

Alphabet (+12.0%) was a positive contributor during July, supported by a good earnings result at the end of the month. Alphabet's main business units - Search, YouTube and Google Cloud Platform - all outperformed expectations. Google Search had better than expected growth and is benefitting from AI tailwinds as it rolls out new features such as AI Overviews, AI Mode and visual search. Google Cloud Platform also performed well in the quarter where it accelerated growth driven by customers running more AI workloads on the platform. 

ASML (-10.6%) reduced its growth guidance for next year as tariff uncertainty and macroeconomic concerns weighed on its customers’ willingness to commit to orders of its lithography machines used to manufacture advanced semiconductor chips. We believe this is largely cyclical, with structural demand for leading-edge chips expected to continue growing and used this weakness to add to our position. 

While Intuitive Surgical (-9.0%) reported continued strength in procedure growth, unit sales of its DaVinci surgical robots were slightly below expectations, as health systems in Europe, China and Japan are increasingly cautious in making large capital expenditures. The US, which makes up most of Intuitive’s revenue, continues to be strong, supported by the highly anticipated launch of its new DV5 robotic system.