Key Takeaways
- Active fund management can add value for investors, despite rise in passive investing.
- Funds with Morningstar Medalist Ratings of Silver and Gold among the top picks.
- High People Pillars are common with these funds.
In European fund investing, active management has become a contrarian choice. Yet when executed properly, it remains capable of adding considerable value. Morningstar manager research analysts cover over 70 strategies from 30 different asset managers across all the European-focused equity categories. Here’s our top picks:
Our Top Picks Among Funds and Fund Firms
BlackRock
BlackRock’s sizable, 20-plus strong European platform underpins its broad strategy range, which frequently draws on the same investment ideas. Led by Stefan Gries and Giles Rothbarth, the group is one of the best-resourced teams in the field. It is organized across five broad sector pods and includes several highly experienced investors. While it’s a high-performing and demanding environment, which has led to higher-than-ideal turnover at times, the team’s diverse intellectual capabilities foster broad and insightful perspectives.
For instance, managers increasingly leverage alternative data as part of their fundamental investment process. The team’s cohesiveness and access to the broader BlackRock investment infrastructure represent a competitive advantage, in our view. The unit oversees a diverse range of strategies, spanning from more flexible mandates to value, ESG, and income-oriented funds.
Our best ideas among BlackRock funds include:
Comgest
The firm’s time-tested quality-growth approach remains a strong anchor here, even if the recent departures of long-tenured and experienced portfolio managers have hit our conviction. Comgest Growth Europe offers a distinctive philosophy applied consistently and skillfully that targets only quality-growth stocks. The team looks to invest in financially healthy companies with dominant market positions, robust earnings growth potential, and high profitability, regardless of the economic cycle. Portfolio construction is purely based on bottom-up stock selection, and the long-term approach translates into a low portfolio turnover and multi-years holding periods.
Fidelity
Fidelity’s research edge is critical to the success of its highest-conviction strategies in this asset class. Portfolio managers often rely extensively on the firm’s sizable research team: With over 30 analysts dedicated to European stocks, the group provides broad and in-depth coverage of the universe that few players can match in this region. Fidelity European is one of our top picks in the Europe ex-UK equity Morningstar Category.
The strategy is run by Sam Morse and Marcel Stötzel, who adopt a patient, balanced, and differentiated approach focused on dividend growth. Elsewhere, Fidelity European Dynamic Growth remains our highest conviction idea in the Europe large-cap growth equity Morningstar Category. Even with the recent setbacks, the strategy’s foundational strengths remain intact, in our view. Fabio Riccelli applies a selective, bottom-up approach, targeting mid and large-cap companies. All in all, the fund stands on a highly disciplined and consistent stock-selection process to execute a distinctive investment philosophy.
M&G
M&G European Sustain Paris Aligned and its SFDR Article 9, Pan-European sibling represents an attractive proposition with quality-focused European equity holdings that are aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Lead manager John William Olsen has designed the process and run the strategy since 2014. With a concentrated, unconstrained, low turnover portfolio of thoroughly researched stocks, the fund has delivered attractive results throughout its history.
M&G (Lux) European Strategic Value Fund is a very different beast and shares little commonality with Olsen’s strategy, even though we view it as equally compelling relative to its peer group. Portfolio manager Richard Halle, an industry veteran with decades of investment experience, has crafted a straightforward, disciplined, and repeatable approach to stock selection that combines with a sensible and prudent process around portfolio construction. The strategy offers reliable exposure to cheap, out-of-favor European companies and does so in a risk-conscious way, primarily exploiting a behavioral edge.
Alternative Ideas for European Fund Investors
Among our best investment ideas, several strategies stand out for their unique characteristics. A good example is Wellington Strategic European Equity. The fund earns a High People Pillar rating thanks to its seasoned skipper Dirk Enderlein, who is the key force behind the establishment and success of the franchise.
Conversely, for investors seeking a risk-conscious, systematic approach, Robeco QI European Conservative Equities represents a sound option, in our view. The firm’s quantitative-based conservative equities range is managed by a six-member team led by Pim van Vliet, whose academic work has laid the conceptual foundation of the strategy’s investment philosophy.
Investors seeking under-the-radar opportunities might consider Magallanes, a Spanish investment boutique offering an original and disciplined all-cap value approach.
This article has been taken from the European Equity Landscape report, published September 2025 and written by Francesco Paganelli and Ronald van Genderen
