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ANNUAL REPORT 2015 A YEAR OF TWO HALVES WE FOCUS ON FINDING VALUE, NO MATTER WHAT THE MARKET MAY SERVE US ANNUAL REPORT | www.skagenfunds.com LEADER Dear Readers, If I had to sum up the global events of 2015 adhering to Twitter’s 140 cha- racter limit, it would probably read something like this: “Greece. Refugee crisis. Putin. Low interest rates. ISIS. Oil. Chinese market dip. Iran deal. Paris. Weak EM. Climate deal. Fed rate hike.” In contrast it would be nearly impossible for us to sum up the In sum, we are not waiting for our investment philosophy to return past year in SKAGEN in Twitter format. That is why we share this to favour, rather, the merits of our common sense approach to Annual Report with you, containing thousands of carefully selected investing have never disappeared. We thrive in the long term thanks words in order to hopefully provide a deeper understanding of our to the market’s failure to price assets correctly from time to time. performance in 2015, how we respond to the trust our clients have As our CIO Ole Søeberg wrote in last year’s Annual Report, sooner placed in us – and a look towards 2016. or later the laws of financial gravity will ensure that companies are In May 2015 we reached a corporate milestone when we welcomed rewarded for the value they create and thereby also reward us for the concentrated global fund, SKAGEN Focus, into our family of our contrarian approach and choice not to follow the herd. funds. This was only the fifth time in our 22 years of operations that we have launched a new equity fund. A course for the future Our team of portfolio managers has been strengthened in the SKAGEN’s ownership situation was an important theme during year and enhancements have been made to how the team genera- the year and we have now arrived at a solution that will ensure the tes and executes investment ideas. There has also been a further long-term independence, continuity and alignment of interests that fine-tuning of how experience and insight are shared across the form the bedrock of SKAGEN. We have also seen some changes at teams. Board level. After more than 17 years at the helm, Chairman of the Board Martin Gjelsvik stepped down in December. He oversaw the A mixed picture development of SKAGEN from a local fund provider in Norway to a Performance in 2015 was a mixed picture. Happily SKAGEN Global European asset management company. On behalf of everyone at beat its benchmark index under the leadership of Knut Gezelius SKAGEN I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his who took over the reins of the fund in November 2014. After impro- dedication to SKAGEN throughout so much of the company’s journey. ved performance in the second half of 2015, we had hopes that Meanwhile, SKAGEN’s Board of Directors has been expanded SKAGEN Kon-Tiki would also beat its benchmark, but it didn’t quite from five to six members, and we welcome the appointment of two make it. Our money market funds continued to provide steady new members, Henrik Lisaeth, our new Chairman, and Leiv Askvig. outperformance. We will work hard to make 2016 a better year They both bring extensive experience from the financial industry. than 2015 in terms of performance. We also have continuity on our Board with the appointment of We continued to see markets moving in a herd-like manner with Anne Sophie Stensrud as Board member, having been Deputy passive investing, growth stocks and developed markets continu- Board member for 12 years. ing to be in vogue. It may seem as though we are waiting for our With the renewed commitment from our owners, a new Board style of active investing to make a comeback. However, if our way in place, along with our mutual solid grounding in SKAGEN’s of investing was always in fashion we would find it difficult, if not vision, values and culture, we stand strong. Looking around me at impossible, to find unpopular investment ideas. I would argue that SKAGEN’s employees, I firmly believe we have all the pieces in over time active investors such as SKAGEN will actually benefit place to ensure continued success with a firm focus on our clients from an increasing number of passive investors in the market. in 2016 and beyond. A common sense approach Despite the fact that most of our funds have beaten their respective benchmark indexes in an impressive number of calendar years, our goal is to achieve long-term returns and not necessarily to beat a specific benchmark over each and every 12-month period. This brings to mind the well-known saying of Benjamin Graham – considered by many to be the father of value investing – that the stock market is a voting machine in the short term and a weighing machine in the long run. Simply put, Graham meant that in the long run the markets will measure the true value of a company rather than merely reflecting which companies are popular or unpopular – Leif Ola Rød in the short term. CEO 2 SKAGEN FUNDS ANNUAL REPORT | 2015 CONTENT 18 Two Russian companies, the food chain X5 (pictured) and the Moscow Stock Exchange, were among the six best contributors to SKAGEN Kon-Tiki in 2015. Bloomberg 30 26 Photos: Photos: , Norwegian Prime If we are to avoid an extra dose inflation Peter Hancock, CEO of American International Group Inc. (AIG), right, is interviewed at the New York Stock Exchange. Minister Erna Solberg (pictured) and other commodity- AIG plans to return $25 billion to shareholders over the next two years as Hancock divests assets and seeks to boost dependent politicians may be forced to ”detox” if commodity returns to protect his job amid criticism from activist investor Carl Icahn. AIG is one of the top 2015 contributors to both prices continue downwards. SKAGEN Focus and SKAGEN Global. EQUITY FUNDS SKAGEN Avkastning > 32 LEADER Spreading unrest Dear Readers > 2 SKAGEN Vekst > 10 Leif Ola Rød Good opportunities SKAGEN Credit EUR > 33 A difficult year for corporate bonds SKAGEN Global > 14 Increased concentration and PORTFOLIO strong US stocks MANAGERS’ REPORT ANNUAL FINANCIAL SKAGEN Kon-Tiki > 18 New growth STATEMENT Board of directors’ article > 36 INVESTMENT SKAGEN m² > 22 Ownership structure > 37 DIRECTOR’S REPORT Weak emerging markets Board of directors’ report > 40 and volatile currencies A year of two halves > 5 Financial statement > 43 Ole Søeberg Notes > 46 SKAGEN Focus > 26 Auditor´s report > 66 A few bright spots in a turbulent first year SKAGEN seeks to the best of its ability to ensure that all information given in this report is correct, however, makes reservations regarding possible errors and omissions. Statements in the report FIXED INCOME reflect the portfolio managers’ viewpoint at a given time, and this viewpoint may be changed FUNDS without notice. Macro comment > 30 The report should not be perceived as an Why do the effects of inflation offer or recommendation to buy or sell financial vary so widely? instruments. SKAGEN does not assume respon- sibility for direct or indirect loss or expenses incurred through use or understanding of the SKAGEN Tellus > 31 report. SKAGEN recommends that anyone wishing Weighed down by to invest in our funds contacts a qualified custo- emerging markets mer adviser by telephone on +47 51 80 37 09 or by email at [email protected]. Unless otherwise stated, all performance data in this report relates to class A units and is net of fees. Unless otherwise stated all figures quoted in this report are in euro, except for the Financial Statement and Notes, which are in Norwegian kroner. SKAGEN Funds only has authorisation to market its money market funds SKAGEN Høyrente and SKAGEN Høyrente Institusjon and combination fund SKAGEN Balanse 60/40 in Norway and SKAGEN Krona in Sweden. Information regarding these funds is included in the official accounts and audited information hereto. Other information regarding these funds from the Norwegian version of the report has been excluded from this English language publication. The Annual Report 2015 was originally prepared in Norwegian. This is a translated version that is published with reservations regarding possible errors and omissions as well as erroneous translation. In case of conflict between the Norwegian and the English versions, the Norwegian version shall prevail. The Norwegian version of the Annual Report 2015 is available at www.skagenfondene.no. SKAGEN FUNDS ANNUAL REPORT | 2015 3 SKAGEN FUNDS’ RETURNS IN EURO IN 2015 Equity Fund Fixed Income Fund As of 31.12.2015 SKAGEN VEKST SKAGEN GLOBAL Manager: Ole Søeberg and Geir Tjetland Start: 1 December 1993 Manager: Knut Gezelius Start: 7 August 1997 Return 2015 Average annual return since start Return 2015 Average annual return since start 20 20 20 20 15 12.2% 15 13.8% 15 15 14.7% 10.0% 10 10 10 8.9% 8.7% 10 5 5 5 5 1.4% 4.0% 0 0 0 0 -5 -5 -5 -5 -10 -10 -10 -10 -15 -15 -15 -15 -20 -20 -20 -20 SKAGEN VekstMSCI Nordic / MSCI AC ex Nordic* SKAGEN GlobalMSCI World AC* * Effective 1/1/2014, the fund’s investment mandate changed. Read more on page 34. The ben- * The benchmark index prior to 1/1/2010 was the MSCI World Index. chmark index prior to 1/1/2010 was the Oslo Stock Exchange Benchmark Index (OSEBX). SKAGEN KON-TIKI SKAGEN m² Manager: Kristoffer Stensrud and Knut Harald Nilsson Start: 5 April 2002 Manager: Michael Gobitschek and Harald Haukås Start: 31 October 2012 Return 2015 Average annual return since start Return 2015 Average annual return since start 20 20 20 20 15 15 13.1% 15 15 12.3% 10 10 9.9% 7.0% 10 10 5 5 5 5 5.6% 0 0 0 1.0% 0 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5.3% -10 -10 -10 -6.8% -10 -15 -15 -15 -15 -20 -20 -20 -20 SKAGEN Kon-Tiki MSCI Emerging Markets Index* SKAGEN m2 MSCI All Country World Index eal Estate IMI * The benchmark index prior to 1/1/2004 was the MSCI World Index.