For the month of July, the International Growth Fund was down -1.8% compared to our global benchmark which was up +2.5%. Companies that meaningfully influenced returns were:

UnitedHealth (+13%) earnings beat expectations despite ongoing industry concerns around increasing medical costs. In a period of elevated costs and a more challenging reimbursement backdrop, UnitedHealth has shown the benefits of its scale and integrated model putting the company in a stronger position to take market share in the core Medicare Advantage insurance market. Greggs (+13%), now the #1 breakfast provider in the UK, saw sales at its 51 new and existing stores grow better than expected in the first half of the year. As well as targeting another 140-160 new stores this year, the company continues to grow its evening traffic, build its loyalty program, and invest in its supply chain infrastructure for efficiencies.

Two of our medical device companies Edwards Lifesciences (-32%) and Dexcom (-40%) fell on concerns around growth as both companies reduced revenue expectations for the year. Edwards reported capacity constraints in its core TAVR medical device business but expects this to be temporary, with procedure growth to return over time. Dexcom’s growth headwinds were more self-inflicted. The company has executed well, growing sales of its continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) nearly 30% p.a. over the last five years to around $4 billion globally. However, amidst a lot going on, including a major salesforce restructure; the launch of new consumer-facing CGM; and the ramp up of two manufacturing facilities, the company has run into some challenges which have impacted its growth.