Darwall (pictured), who heads up the five crown-rated Jupiter European fund, is a bottom-up stockpicker through and through, and says he is confident he can make money in any market – as long as countries keep trading with one another.
"We target what we call special companies – those that can prosper in different economic scenarios," he explained. "They don’t depend on a particular economic backdrop to perform, as long as they offer something unique that they can monetise, and that people want to buy."
"What allows us to pursue this strategy is a state of the world that is still working for us. That’s to say, we need to see increasing globalisation and world trade. That is still happening, which is a very good thing."
"Right now, I can’t point to anything new that is different from any other time since I started running the fund. I don’t know what will happen next, but I have a portfolio that takes that into consideration."
"If you look at the testing and inspection companies – SGS in Switzerland which we own, and Intertek in the UK – all the evidence from them is that world trade is still growing, which is a perfect backdrop for what we need because we focus on companies that have something special, that they look to sell worldwide."
Darwall points to the shale gas revolution in the US as something that is actually improving world trade, though he says China is becoming a hindrance
"One of the implications of the shale oil and shale gas revolution is that America has moved away from protectionism because their chemical and process industries are doing well on the back of cheaper energy."
"This has been a good development for us, as [growing world trade] is one of the key ingredients I need to pursue our strategy of finding companies that can succeed on the world stage."
"The one set-back is that China has become a slightly more nationalist area, and we have seen some companies struggling to impose a successful strategy on their Chinese operations."
The £2.1bn Jupiter European fund has shrugged off a number of severe headwinds since Darwall started running it in 2001.
Over this period, it has returned 246.37 per cent, compared with 106.84 from its FTSE World Europe ex UK benchmark, and 97.96 per cent from the IMA Europe ex UK sector average.
Performance of fund vs sector and index since Dec 2001
Source: FE Analytics
No fund in the sector has returned more over the period. The closest – CF Odey Continental European – has delivered 215.44 per cent.
Jupiter European is also a top-decile performer in its sector over one, three, five and 10 years, easily beating its benchmark in the process.
The manager has beaten his sector and the index in both up and down markets over the last decade, which complements his idea of targeting companies that can outperform in various economic conditions.
Darwall rejects the idea that equity markets – particularly in Europe – are now expensive just because they have had a good run in recent months.
According to FE data, the FTSE World Europe ex UK index has returned 19.45 per cent over the last 12 months, and Jupiter European is up a further 10 percentage points or so.
Performance of fund vs sector and index over 1yr
Source: FE Analytics
"You get instances where share prices go up but the shares get cheaper," Darwall explained.
"Shares go can up, but because there are many good things going on in the company, they become better value."
"At the moment, the very good companies are doing very well."
"You need to avoid being held captive by the French government, which hates business and can give you a hell of a kicking, but if you look into other parts of the world businesses can still prosper."
"Europe has some of the best services and technology in the world, and its trading culture and mindset are second to none."
"At the moment, I’d say I’m pretty comfortably with valuations. It’s only when a business model goes wrong – then I get very worried about them," he added.
Jupiter European requires a minimum investment of £500 and has an ongoing charges figure (OCF) of 1.79 per cent.
Darwall also heads up Jupiter European Growth, Jupiter European Opportunities IT and Scot Wid HIFL European Focus. Like Jupiter European, all three have five FE Crowns.