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Commentary Sustainable Transport

Why we invest in – Aptiv; driving change in the automotive industry

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Aptiv (NYSE: APTV), once part of the mighty General Motors, emerged as a stand-alone company in 2017 with an explicit ambition to enable and benefit from key technological trends in the automotive industry. Enabling vehicles to be ‘safe, green and connected’ is the company tag-line that neatly summarises their areas of expertise.

The wider automobile industry meanwhile is experiencing a period of extraordinary change. The death of diesel and the growth of hybrid and electric cars, the market shift to emerging economies and the dawn of autonomous vehicles, are all making this a very challenging period for automobile manufacturers.

It is, however also creating enormous opportunity for component suppliers that are on the right end of these technological shifts. Aptiv specialises in providing the electrical architecture for electrified power trains as well as the sensors and software that underpin greater levels of automotive autonomy and safety. In fact, Aptiv has partnered with Lyft to provide a fleet of 75 self-driving cars in Las Vegas. Self-driving vehicles hold out the promise of radical improvements in vehicle safety along with lower environmental impact.

Aptiv is at the forefront of the automobile industries’ changing landscape and we have invested in this stock for the following reasons:

  • High quality operator that is enjoying revenue growth well in excess of the wider automotive market. Aptiv has delivered a 5 year sales CAGR of 4.6% but this has accelerated to 9% in the past two years.
  • Product portfolio that matches the key technological shifts in the industry. The company derives approximately 75% of its revenues from either electrical distribution systems or from active safety technologies.
  • Industry leader with c.20% market share in electrical systems and c.15% market share in active safety technologies.

Valuation is reasonable we believe. Given the outsize growth opportunity and attractive margins of around 13%, the company trades on 15x PE and 10x Enterprise Value/EBITDA – both in-line with its five year historical averages.

Foresight Group LLP completed an acquisition of the trade and assets of WHEB Asset Management LLP (WHEB). By way of Novation, Foresight Group LLP now acts as investment manager. Foresight Group LLP uses the trading names WHEB and WHEB Asset Management.

Foresight Group LLP and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with Firm Reference Number 198020 and has its registered office at The Shard, 32 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9SG. FundRock Partners Limited (formerly Fund Partners Limited) remains the Authorised Corporate Director of the Funds and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with Firm Reference Number 469278 and has its registered office at Hamilton Centre, Rodney Way, Chelmsford, England, CM1 3BY.

Important Notices:

The price of shares (“Shares”) in FP WHEB Sustainability Impact Fund, WHEB Sustainable Impact Fund or WHEB Environmental Impact Fund may increase or decrease and you may not get back the amount originally invested, for reasons including adverse market and foreign exchange rate movements. Past performance does not predict future returns. Any performance shown does not take account of any commissions and costs charged when subscribing to and redeeming shares. The Fund invests in equities and is exposed to price fluctuations in the equity markets and focuses on investments in mid-sized companies in certain sectors so its performance may not correlate closely with the MSCI World Index (the benchmark). For full risks, please see fund prospectus on www.whebgroup.com. This information is issued by Foresight Group LLP. We have exercised reasonable care in preparing this information including using reliable sources. However, we make no representation or warranty relating to its accuracy, reliability or completeness or whether any future event may or may not occur. The information (including the MSCI information) is intended for information purposes only and does not constitute or form part of any offer or invitation to buy or sell any security. Any opinions constitute our judgment as of the date published and are subject to change without notice. We do not offer legal, tax, financial or investment advice. The information should not be relied upon to make an investment decision. Any such investment decision should be made only on the basis of the Fund scheme documents and appropriate professional advice.

WHEB Environmental Impact Fund

The Manager of the Fund is FundRock Management Company S.A., authorised and regulated by the Luxembourg regulator to act as UCITS management company and has its registered office at 33, rue de Gasperich, L-5826 Hesperange, Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. The Fund is registered for distribution to professional investors in the United Kingdom. It is not available to investors domiciled in the United States.

FP WHEB Sustainability Impact Fund

FundRock Partners Limited is the Authorised Corporate Director of the Fund and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with Firm Reference Number 469278 and has its registered office at 6th Floor Bastion House, 140 London Wall, London, EC2Y 5DN. The state of the origin of the Fund is England and Wales.

WHEB Sustainable Impact Fund

The Manager of the Fund is FundRock Management Company S.A., authorised and regulated by the Luxembourg regulator to act as UCITS management company and has its registered office at 33, rue de Gasperich, L-5826 Hesperange, Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. The state of the origin of the Fund is Ireland. The Fund is registered for distribution to professional investors in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Singapore, Sweden and the United Kingdom, and is registered for offering to retail investors in Switzerland, Denmark and the Netherlands. The Fund is also available for professional investors in Belgium and Hong Kong. It is not available to investors domiciled in the United States.

For FP WHEB Sustainability Impact Fund and WHEB Sustainable Impact Fund, the Representative in Switzerland is ACOLIN Fund Services AG, Leutschenbachstrasse 50, CH-8050 Zurich, whilst the Paying Agent is NPB Neue Privat Bank AG, Limmatquai 1/am Bellevue, P.O. Box, 8024 Zurich.  The relevant documents such as the prospectus, the key investor information document (KIIDs), the Articles of Association as well as the annual and semi-annual reports may be obtained free of charge from the representative in Switzerland.

The MSCI information may be used for your internal use, may not be reproduced or re-dissseminated in any form and may not be used as a basis for or a component of any financial instruments or products or indices. Historical data and analysis should not be taken as an indication or guarantee of any future performance analysis, forecast or prediction. The MSCI information is provided on an “as is” basis and the user of this information assumes the entire risk of any use made of this information. MSCI, each of its affiliates and each other person involved in or related to compiling, computing or creating any MSCI information (collectively, the “MSCI Parties”) expressly disclaims all warranties (including, without limitation, any warranties of originality, accuracy, completeness, timeliness, non-infringement, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose) with respect to this information. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall any MSCI Party have any liability for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, punitive, consequential (including, without limitation, lost profits) or any other damages (www.msci.com).

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WHEB is now a part of Foresight Group.
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