Invesco Global Founders & Owners Fund

The Invesco Global Founders & Owners Fund invests in a concentrated portfolio of holdings where founders or significant owners actively manage or govern companies.
Why this fund? More resources
Two people seated at a table inside a glass-enclosed room, engaged in conversation.

Investing with aligned leadership

Investing in founder-owner companies means partnering with leaders who have real skin in the game. Their significant ownership stakes align incentives, driving disciplined cost control, long-term value creation, and strategic boldness. Backed by strong historical performance and broad sector diversification, these businesses offer a compelling edge for global equity portfolios. Of course, not every founder or owner is a winner. That’s why we focus on partnering with the ones who have the mindset, track record, and opportunity to grow our capital over the long haul, especially when their shares are trading at compelling prices.

Aligned incentives

Founder-owners invest heavily in their firms, ensuring strong alignment with shareholder interests and long-term value.

Long-term vision

Founders prioritize sustainable growth and bold innovation over short-term results, driving lasting market leadership.

Strong return potential

Historical studies indicate founder-led and owner-controlled companies have often delivered stronger long-term results.

Why this fund?

The fund’s core investment philosophy centers on the belief that companies led by founders and owners tend to exhibit superior business qualities and long-term value creation potential. The premise: people take more care of things that they own, and company management teams are no different. We believe partnering with founders and owners makes it possible to achieve exceptional investment outcomes.

  • Rigorous investment process

    The value-add of the portfolio is articulated through a rigorous investment process that combines deep fundamental research with a disciplined evaluation of risk and return. Key elements include:

    Idea generation: Ownership data is hard to come by. Different share classes, stale information and bizarrely named holding companies make alignment data extremely difficult to collect. You have to do much of it by hand. The investment team screens a broad universe, identifying ca. 125 overlaps that fit the fund’s criteria, focusing on businesses with exceptional founders or owners.

    Evaluation and approval: Each idea is analysed to confirm why the business and owner stand out. Financial models are built in-house and calculate an expected IRR, followed by rigorous peer review to select top candidates.

    Portfolio construction: Based on model IRRs, the portfolio includes 25–35 holdings, each capped at 10% to maintain diversification and reduce correlation.

  • Risk management

    Risk management is embedded throughout the investment process. At the stock level we do deep research to build a strong understanding of the company’s risk/reward profile. At the portfolio level, correlation and macro level risks are analysed and considered to ensure the portfolio is sufficiently diversified to work across a variety of investment conditions. Research and models are updated regularly – usually every quarter or whenever there is an earnings release – ensuring our thesis remains intact.

     

  • Portfolio positioning

    Portfolio positioning is carefully managed to balance growth opportunities with risk controls. The aim is to build a diverse portfolio of relatively uncorrelated holdings, leveraging the best ideas identified through the evaluation process. The use of a stock comparison sheet and model IRRs helps in selecting holdings that complement each other and optimize overall portfolio performance.

  • For complete information on risks, refer to the legal documents. The value of investments and any income will fluctuate (this may partly be the result of exchange-rate fluctuations) and investors may not get back the full amount invested. The fund may invest in certain securities listed in China which can involve significant regulatory constraints that may affect the liquidity and/or the investment performance of the fund. The fund invests in a limited number of holdings and is less diversified. This may result in large fluctuations in the value of the fund. As a portion of the Fund may be exposed to less developed countries, you should be prepared to accept large fluctuations in the value of the Fund.

Fund manager

Joe Dowling manages the fund’s stock selection. He has 12 years of investment experience and is part of the Henley-based Global Equities team, which brings together different yet complementary skills. The experience of its members is well-suited to managing active, bottom-up portfolios.

Joe Dowling, Fund manager


Investing with Founders and Owners is not a fad, a theme or a clever marketing ploy – it’s simply the best way I have found to grow wealth in an absolute or relative sense.

Joe Dowling
Fund manager

Additional fund resources

For additional insights and background information about the fund, please download the Owner’s Manual PDF and Investment Opportunity PDF. 

Frequently asked questions

Founder or owner-led companies often outperform the market because the management has significant "skin in the game." This alignment of interests means founders treat shareholder money as their own, focus on long-term growth rather than short-term gains, and are more cost-conscious and cash-efficient. Empirical evidence shows founder-led companies outperform non-founder-led peers over time.

"Skin in the game" refers to founders or owners having a substantial personal financial stake in the company, typically owning at least 5% of the company or having $100 million invested. This ensures their incentives are aligned with shareholders, reducing principal-agent problems and encouraging prudent capital allocation.

Founders and owners think long-term, often prioritizing sustainable growth over short-term remuneration. They can be more courageous and innovative, willing to make bold decisions that lead to material outperformance. Examples include Jeff Bezos investing early in cloud computing and Michael O'Leary making strategic moves during crises.

Investors evaluate founders on three key criteria:

Talent: Operational and capital allocation track record.

Ethics: Treatment of minority shareholders and governance standards.

Alignment: Level of ownership and compensation structure.

This assessment involves deep research including filings, interviews, and external sources.

Multiple studies from reputable sources (Bain & Harvard Business Review, PWC/UBS, Journal of Finance, UBS) show that founder-led, billionaire-controlled, CEO-owned, and family-owned companies consistently outperform market benchmarks by significant margins over extended periods.

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  • Data as at 30.11.2025, unless otherwise stated. By accepting this material, you consent to communicate with us in English, unless you inform us otherwise. This is marketing material and not financial advice. It is not intended as a recommendation to buy or sell any particular asset class, security or strategy. Regulatory requirements that require impartiality of investment/investment strategy recommendations are therefore not applicable nor are any prohibitions to trade before publication. Views and opinions are based on current market conditions and are subject to change. For information on our funds and the relevant risks, refer to the Key Information Documents/Key Investor Information Documents (local languages) and Prospectus (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian), and the financial reports, available from www.invesco.eu. A summary of investor rights is available in English from www.invesco.com/lu-manco/en/home.html. The management company may terminate marketing arrangements. Not all share classes of this fund may be available for public sale in all jurisdictions and not all share classes are the same nor do they necessarily suit every investor.

    EMEA5114922/2026