Royce Global Trust Manager Commentary
article 02-21-2025

Royce Global Trust Manager Commentary

Royce Global Trust advanced 11.8% on a net asset value (NAV) basis and an impressive 14.8% based on its market price in 2024, well ahead of the 7.7% gain for its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI Small Cap Index, for the same period. The Fund also beat its benchmark on an NAV basis for the 10-year period ended 12/31/24 while lagging for the 5-year period.

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Fund Performance

Royce Global Trust (RGT) advanced 11.8% on a NAV (net asset value) basis and an impressive 14.8% based on its market price, well ahead of the 7.7% gain for its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI Small Cap Index, for the same period. The Fund also beat its benchmark on an NAV basis for the 10-year period ended 12/31/24 while lagging for the 3- and 5-year period.

What Worked… and What Didn't

Eight of the Fund’s 10 equity sectors made positive contributions to performance in 2024, led by Financials, Industrials, and Information Technology. Health Care and Consumer Discretionary detracted while Communication Services made the smallest positive contribution. At the industry level, capital markets (Financials), software (Information Technology), and trading companies & distributors (Industrials) were the top contributors while the biggest detractors were media (Communication Services), health care equipment & supplies (Health Care), and building products (Industrials).

At the position level, the top contributor was FTAI Aviation, which provides maintenance, repair, and exchange of CFM56 and V2500 aircraft engines, the workhorses of the global aircraft fleet, to smaller airlines globally. Contributing to its notable performance in 2024 were the market’s recognition of the tight supply of aircraft engines, FTAI’s growth runway as it closed deals with Latam Airlines and Pratt & Whitney—a burgeoning cost advantage after FTAI purchased its management fee agreement and a key maintenance facility in Montreal—and FAA approval for critical aftermarket engine parts. Tel Aviv Stock Exchange operates Israel’s only stock exchange and provides trading services for stocks, mutual funds, corporate and government bonds, short-term T-bills, and index and currency options. A key element of its business model is that trading commissions only account for 38% of revenue, with the remainder coming from listing fees and annual levies, clearing/custodial fees, and data distribution fees. Despite Israel’s war against Hamas and Lebanon and a weak environment for IPOs/secondary equity offerings, the stock delivered strong returns in 2024 due to robust demand for Treasury Bills, corporate bonds, and government bond issuance, as well as from the exchange’s derivatives business, which benefited from increased volatility, and the securing of regulatory approval for bringing pricing in line with global peers.

EVI Industries, which distributes commercial laundry and dry cleaning equipment, industrial boilers, and related parts for its U.S. customer base, was the top-detracting position in 2024. While continuing to operate effectively, both its business and stock have also continued to face challenges, including declining profits, increased operating costs and interest expenses, competitive pressures, and environmental regulations. We began to reduce our stake in its shares in December 2024. Dish TV India is a subscription based satellite television provider whose offerings include multilingual services, entertainment, lifestyle, devotional and astrology, kids and games, and learning programs. The company faced challenges in the highly competitive direct-to-home and cable television industries, including difficulties expanding its market share and remaining profitable in the face of increased competition. We held a small position at year-end.

RGT’s advantage over the MSCI ACWI Small Cap was attributable to both stock selection and sector allocation decisions in 2024. At the sector level, stock selection and our substantially higher weighting in Financials, stock selection in Information Technology, and stock selection and, to a lesser extent, a higher weighting in Materials helped most with relative results. Conversely, stock selection in Health Care and Consumer Discretionary, as well as a combination of stock selection and a higher weight in Communication Services hindered relative performance the most in 2024.


Top Contributors to Performance For 20241

FTAI Aviation
Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
Cellebrite DI
PAR Technology
Protector Forsikring

1 Includes dividends

Top Detractors from Performance For 20242

EVI Industries
Dish TV India
Carel Industries
Teqnion
AutoCanada

2 Net of dividends

Current Positioning And Outlook

Having endured a multi-year earnings recession in small-cap, we are expecting a (long-awaited) period of sustained small-cap leadership, driven by stronger relative earnings growth and more attractive valuations. Prior small-cap leadership cycles have distinct dynamics at different points in the cycle, and low-quality factors often drive performance as the cycle gets under way. Given RGT’s disciplined focus on owning quality companies—those with high returns on invested capital, consistent free cash flow, and strong balance sheets—we are often challenged to keep pace with the initial run for lower-quality names. In time, however, this dynamic has reversed, as more high-quality factors assumed long-term leadership and outperformed. A key differentiator of our approach is the long-term investment horizon inherent in taking a business buyer’s approach. This enables the Fund to arbitrage time by adding to existing names or buying new high-quality holdings when their valuations contract due to short-term sentiment that often overshadows attractive and sustainable long-term value creation drivers. Though positioning changed little throughout the year, with relatively few new names being added, we were active in reducing multi-year outperformers while adding to lower market cap holdings that were down due to cyclical or macro concerns and where our conviction in the business model and long-term earnings power remains strong.

Average Annual Total Returns Through 12/31/24 (%)

QTR1 YTD1 1YR 3YR 5YR 10YR SINCE INCEPT.
(10/17/13)
RGT -3.5014.8114.81-4.185.577.215.55
XRGTX (NAV) -2.3611.8011.80-1.785.697.406.23

Annual Operating Expenses: N/A

1 Not annualized.

Important Performance and Disclosure Information

Important Performance and Expense Information

All performance information reflects past performance, is presented on a total return basis, and reflects the reinvestment of distributions. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Current performance may be higher or lower than performance quoted. Returns as of the most recent month-end may be obtained at www.royceinvest.com. The market price of the Fund's shares will fluctuate, so that shares may be worth more or less than their original cost when sold.

The Fund invests primarily in securities of small-cap and mid-cap companies, which may involve considerably more risk than investing in larger-cap companies. The Fund's broadly diversified portfolio does not ensure a profit or guarantee against loss. From time to time, the Fund may invest a significant portion of its net assets in foreign securities, which may involve political, economic, currency and other risks not encountered in U.S. investments.

Current month-end performance may be obtained at our Prices and Performance page.

Notes to Performance and Other Important Information

The thoughts expressed in this report concerning recent market movements and future prospects for small company stocks are solely the opinion of Royce at December 31, 2024, and, of course, historical market trends are not necessarily indicative of future market movements. Statements regarding the future prospects for particular securities held in the Funds’ portfolios and Royce’s investment intentions with respect to those securities reflect Royce’s opinions as of December 31, 2024 and are subject to change at any time without notice. There can be no assurance that securities mentioned in this report will be included in any Royce-managed portfolio in the future.


As of 12/31/24, the percentage of Fund assets was as follows: FTAI Aviation was 3.8%, Tel Aviv Stock Exchange was 3.2%, Cellebrite DI was 1.5%, PAR Technology was 1.0%, Protector Forsikring was 2.1%, EVI Industries was 1.4%, Dish TV India was 0.4%, Carel Industries was 0.7%, Teqnion was 0.9%, AutoCanada was 0.7%.


Sector weightings are determined using the Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS”). GICS was developed by, and is the exclusive property of, Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“S&P”) and MSCI Inc. (“MSCI”). GICS is the trademark of S&P and MSCI. “Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS)” and “GICS Direct” are service marks of S&P and MSCI.

All indexes referred to are unmanaged and capitalization weighted. Each index’s returns include net reinvested dividends and/or interest income. Russell Company (“Russell”) is the source and owner of the trademarks, service marks and copyrights related to the Russell Indexes. Russell® is a trademark of Frank Russell Company. Neither Russell nor its licensors accept any liability for any errors or omissions in the Russell Indexes and/or Russell ratings or underlying data and no party may rely on any Russell Indexes and/or Russell ratings and/or underlying data contained in this communication. No further distribution of Russell Data is permitted without Russell’s express written consent. Russell does not promote, sponsor or endorse the content of this communication. The Russell 2000 Index is an index of domestic small-cap stocks. It measures the performance of the 2,000 smallest publicly traded U.S. companies in the Russell 3000 Index. The Russell 2000 Value and Growth Indexes consist of the respective value and growth stocks within the Russell 2000 as determined by Russell Investments. The Russell Microcap Index includes 1,000 of the smallest securities in the Russell 2000 Index, along with the next smallest eligible securities as determined by Russell. The Russell 2500 is an unmanaged, capitalization-weighted index of the 2,500 smallest publicly traded U.S. companies in the Russell 3000 index. The returns for the Russell 2500-Financial Sector represent those of the financial services companies within the Russell 2500 index. Source: MSCI. MSCI makes no express or implied warranties or representations and shall have no liability whatsoever with respect to any MSCI data contained herein. The MSCI data may not be further redistributed or used as a basis for other indexes or any securities or financial products. This report is not approved, endorsed, reviewed or produced by MSCI. None of the MSCI data is intended to constitute investment advice or a recommendation to make (or refrain from making) any kind of investment decision and may not be relied on as such. The MSCI ACWI Small Cap Index is an unmanaged, capitalization-weighted index of global small-cap stocks.The MSCI ACWI ex USA Small Cap Index is an index of global small-cap stocks, excluding the United States.The performance of an index does not represent exactly any particular investment, as you cannot invest directly in an index. Returns for the market indexes used in this report were based on information supplied to Royce by Russell Investments. Royce has not independently verified the above described information.

This material contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), that involve risks and uncertainties, including, among others, statements as to:

-the Funds’ future operating results,

-the prospects of the Funds’ portfolio companies,

-the impact of investments that the Funds have made or may make, the dependence of the Funds’ future success on the general economy and its impact on the companies and industries in which the Funds invest, and

-the ability of the Funds’ portfolio companies to achieve their objectives.

This discussion uses words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “expects,” “future,” “intends,” and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements for any reason.

The Royce Funds have based the forward-looking statements included in this commentary on information available to us on the date of the commentary, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Although The Royce Funds undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, you are advised to consult any additional disclosures that we may make through future shareholder communications or reports.

This material is not authorized for distribution unless preceded or accompanied by a current prospectus. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing or sending money. Smaller-cap stocks may involve considerably more risk than larger-cap stocks. (Please see “Primary Risks for Fund Investors” in the prospectus.)

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