Europe’s pearls: Anyone who rely on undervalued European stocks against the index trend can achieve extraordinary returns. (Photo: Freepik)
While the big US technology is likely to dominate in many depots, an actively managed fund celebrates a comeback of a special kind in Europe. Alken European opportunities (ISIN: LU0235308482) Despite the index dominance, blind to blind ETF consensus-and delivers: With plus 18.5 percent in the current year, plus 130 percent in 5 years and over plus 312 percent since the edition, management around Nicolas Walewski proves that active stock picking also works in Europe-where you have to look for.
Alpha Made in Europe – intended against the grain
Europe is considered a difficult plaster for many investors. Too much politics, too little growth, too many headlines. But it is precisely in this mixture that the great opportunity for funds such as the Alken European Opportunities are. Because the markets have moved away from fundamental reviews and-especially in the small and mid-cap area-are immersed in a parallel world of uncertainty, undervaluation and ignorance.
Walewski and his team take it mercilessly. Your recipe: a disciplined, fundamental bottom-up approach that cannot be guided by fashions, but by convincing corporate stories, solid balance sheets and healthy cash flows.
On January 2006, the fund is now navigating through the third decade of capital market – and with flying colors. More than 312 percent growth has been available since laying, which corresponds to an annual average of 7.82 percent. In the current year 2025, the performance is a whopping 18.5 percent, while the wide MSCI Europe has to be satisfied with single -digit growth.
The result is also impressive in the view of 5 years: plus 125 percent are available – a consistent outperformance that only a few funds in this category can show.
Concentration on quality instead of index closeness
While passive investments work with ever spreading portfolios and minimal conviction, Alken relies on focus. The portfolio consists of 45 to 65 selected titles – not mass, but great. The 10 largest positions often make up almost half of the fund volume. Such a concentration not only requires courage, but also deep trust in your own analysis.
This is exactly what the team distinguishes. The title selection is not schematic, but is discussed, weighed and decided in a collegial process. Fundamental, into depth, but also with a view to the market. The high active equity quota of over 90 percent shows that it is not reproduced, but it is deliberately positioned.
Armor shares as a return driver – Rheinmetall and Renk
The latest performance shows that stick picking can also be politically uncomfortable. While many investors avoid the defense sector for ethical or image reasons, Alken starts right there – rationally, analytically, sober.
The biggest performance drivers in the fund are currently Rhine metal And Renk. Both benefit from a multi -year armaments cycle, which the market has so far only partially priced in. Exactly this gap between reality and perception, between market psychology and corporate development, the fund uses – whenever others still hesitate.
Industry, financial values and energy – Europe’s underestimated pillars
The fund’s industry allocation is anything but arbitrary. With around a third, the focus is on industrial companies – companies that convince with real products and sales. Other large blocks are financial values and energy. No tech bias, no consumption fetish-but a clean structure anchored in the real economy.
The portfolio mainly contains MID Caps, which are often overlooked, but that is precisely because of this enormous potential. The image is rounded off by small caps with solid balance sheets and stable margins – exactly the titles that fly under the radar of many analysts and are accordingly cheap. Geographical priorities are mainly set in France, Germany, Great Britain and Italy.
Small-Cap Renaissance? Alken is long in the middle of it
It has been announced for years – the Renaissance of the Small Caps. Now it seems to be slowly becoming a reality. While the big indices concentrate on some mega caps, there are a variety of exciting options at the lower end of the spectrum.
Here is alken at home. The investment process is aimed at identifying exactly those companies that have hardly any research coverage but are at an operational turning point. Whether new management structures, disruptive changes or simply overlooked quality – the team is not looking for what everyone sees, but for what nobody wants to admit yet.
Discipline is the top priority: investments are only made if the chance risk profile is convincing. The fund is aware of expensive trend titles – the risk of being caught on the wrong foot is too great.
Constant excellence despite all the fluctuations
Performance is not a linear process in active management. Alken also had phases of the relative weakness, for example before pandemic, when the comparison index temporarily hurried. However, the fund has been in a new alpha phase again since 2022. In all important comparison periods – whether one year, 3 years or 5 years – the fund is currently in the first decil of its peer group. For over 5 years even in second place behind the Ardtur European Focus.
This is not a mayfly, but the result of a clearly defined and stringent investment process, which remains sustainable even in stormy times.
Conclusion: a fund for investors with a backbone and foresight
Alken European opportunities is not a product for passive fellow runners. He is made for investors who deal with the market who believe in active management – and who are willing to swim against the electricity for real alpha. With a combination of fundamental depth, strategic flexibility and sector clarity, the fund offers exactly what is important in volatile times: orientation, conviction and substance.
Anyone who believes that Europe has more to offer than political crises and fear of growth – who will find a real outperformer here. And if you prefer to swim into index width, you may only see the train when you have already left.
Disclaimer:
No investment advice. No call to buy or sell securities.