Active management through differentiation: creating investment solutions beyond market consensus
23 SEPT, 2026
By François L’Hénoret from Mandarine Gestion
In an investment landscape increasingly dominated by passive strategies, thematic strategies and standardized products that concentrate portfolio risk instead of diversifying them, active managers must demonstrate their ability to generate genuine value. Performance remains essential, but true differentiation comes from developing innovative investment solutions that address investors' evolving needs while capitalizing on market inefficiencies.
At Mandarine Gestion, this philosophy is at the heart of our development. As one of the leading French asset managers, we believe long-term value creation stems from conviction-driven management rather than the replication of existing market solutions. Two strategies exemplify this approach: Mandarine Premium Europe and Mandarine Global Target 2032.
Mandarine Premium Europe reflects our long-standing expertise in European small and mid-cap equities. While this segment is widely recognized for its growth potential, it also requires a highly selective and disciplined investment process. Over the years, the strategy has established a strong track record by identifying companies with robust business models, sustainable competitive advantages and attractive long-term growth prospects.
What truly differentiates the strategy is its investment process. While most European small and mid-cap managers rely primarily on bottom-up stock selection, Mandarine Premium Europe combines fundamental research with a top-down macroeconomic framework and the integration of market momentum indicators. This combination remains relatively uncommon within the European small and mid-cap universe.
By incorporating macroeconomic analysis and market trends alongside company fundamentals, the portfolio management team gains a broader understanding of the investment environment and can adapt exposures to changing market conditions. This ability to combine stock-picking expertise, macroeconomic insight and momentum analysis has been an important contributor to the strategy's long-term performance and resilience across market cycles.
On the fixed-income side, Mandarine Global Target 2032 demonstrates our commitment to innovation in credit markets. Launched in 2026, this international target-maturity High Yield strategy primarily invests in corporate bonds maturing by the end of 2032. The portfolio is designed around broad diversification and is expected to comprise more than 100 issuers, while currency exposure is systematically hedged to reduce uncompensated risks.
Its most distinctive feature, however, lies in its genuinely global investment universe. Unlike many target-maturity funds available in Europe, which remain largely concentrated in European issuers, Mandarine Global Target 2032 offers a truly international approach, with approximately 50% of the portfolio invested in the United States.
This allocation provides investors with access to the depth and liquidity of the world's largest corporate bond market while enhancing diversification across sectors, issuers and economic regions. It also offers exposure to an economy that has consistently demonstrated stronger growth dynamics than many European peers, supported by innovation, entrepreneurship, consumer demand and deep capital markets.
By combining a target-maturity structure with broad international diversification, the strategy seeks to deliver an attractive balance between yield opportunities, risk management and portfolio visibility. In a market where most target-date offerings remain regionally focused, this global approach represents a meaningful source of differentiation.
Although they operate in different asset classes, Mandarine Premium Europe and Mandarine Global Target 2032 share a common philosophy: active management built on research, innovation and strong investment convictions. Whether through the combination of fundamental analysis, macroeconomic expertise and momentum investing in European equities, or through a genuinely global approach to High Yield investing, both strategies aim to provide investors with differentiated solutions capable of delivering long-term value.
In a financial industry increasingly shaped by standardization, the true value of active management lies in its ability to think differently. At Mandarine Gestion, this commitment to innovation and differentiation remains central to our mission of serving investors and distribution partners alike.
Advertising material – This document is published by Mandarine Gestion, an asset management company with share capital of 8,992,760 euros, authorised and regulated by the Autorité des marchés financiers under number GP-08000008. This document is provided for information purposes only and contains information, opinions, assumptions, estimates and figures which Mandarine Gestion considers to be well-founded or accurate as at the date of publication, taking into account the economic, financial and market conditions prevailing at that time. Although every effort has been made, Mandarine Gestion cannot provide any guarantee or assurance as to the accuracy, completeness or reliability of the data presented. The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice.
Past or target performance is not indicative of future returns. There is no guarantee that positive forecasts will materialise in the future. Future performance is subject to the tax regime in force, which depends on the personal circumstances of each investor and may change in the future. Investing involves risks, including the risk of capital loss. There is no guarantee that the investment objective will be achieved or that a return on capital will be realised. The product does not offer any capital protection guarantee.
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