Factsheet: May 2021
Strategy
The Fund's objective is to achieve optimal capital growth over the long term through the active management of a portfolio of large-capitalisation stocks based primarily in a member country of the European Union or the European Economic Area.
The investment strategy is based on a fundamental analysis. The stock selection process is based on the activity of companies, their governance, financial structure, and development prospects. The fund aims to identify companies with dominant positions, high reinvestment capacity, and low debt.
The recommended investment horizon is 5 years. The reference currency is the Euro.
Markets
European markets ended positively in May, outperforming their US counterparts: the Euro Stoxx 50 gained +2.41% and the Stoxx Europe 600 +2.65%.
The prospects for growth and a sustained recovery in global activity were fuelled by an improvement in household confidence and the spending of savings accumulated during lockdown periods.
Inflation fears appear to have somewhat subsided despite a high pressure on consumer prices and the sluggish revving up of some production lines. The ECB has maintained a very cautious approach and reaffirmed its commitment to extend its support to the economy. It should confirm this momentum at its June 10th meeting.
On a sectoral level, the retail business was the big winner (+6%), while the travel sector stalled after the solid recovery at the beginning of the year (-4%).
The Fund
The Fund slightly outperformed the indices with an increase of +3.19%.
The top three performers were Sonova of Switzerland (+18%), Alfa Laval of Sweden (+9%) and Spirax-Sarco of the UK (+8%), while Coloplast (-6%) and Christian Hansen (-3%), both from Denmark, lagged behind, along with Ferrari (-3%).
Even though we are reluctant to sell companies that correspond to our investment philosophy, we have partially reduced our exposure to LVMH and ASML, in order to rebalance the fund's investment weightings and to capitalize on the attractive valuation levels of other stocks with equally promising prospects, such as Kone, for example.
For more information, please email us: contact@fisconsult-sinews.com