Against this backdrop, the fund delivered a negative performance in July.
While the strengthening of our defensive positions in the healthcare sector (Centene, United Health) buoyed performance, increased competition in the field of obesity treatments led to a fall in Novo Nordisk, the main detractor from performance in July.
Despite good results, potential trade restrictions for China in the semiconductor sector weighed on TSMC, SK Hynix and ASML holdings.
At the time of its results publication, Microsoft disappointed investors with its Azure cloud division, and announced a more cautious outlook for the medium term, casting doubt on the benefits of artificial intelligence in the short term.
We identify promising long-term trends, particularly in technology, healthcare, infrastructure and consumer goods.
We are pursuing our strategy of diversifying the portfolio by investing across the value chain, to capture opportunities in large caps as well as small and mid-caps.
We closed three positions in AMD, Thermo Fisher and Deere & Co, bringing the total number of holdings to 70.
North America | 59.6 % |
Europe | 19.8 % |
Asia | 16.7 % |
Asia-Pacific | 2.1 % |
Latin America | 1.8 % |
Total % Equities | 100.0 % |
Since its creation in 1989 by Edouard Carmignac, our Investissement strategy seeks to identify long-term trends in a changing world and seize global equity market opportunities.
Market environment
In the US, the economy is slowly paving the way for a soft landing, with job creation and retail sales easing over the month. At the same time, inflation continued to trend lower. In Europe, growth surprised to the upside at +0.3% in the second quarter, while inflation picked up slightly.
As expected, the Fed left short-term rates unchanged during their July meeting. However, the combination of a less dynamic job growth and lower inflation sets the stage for the Fed to potentially lower rates in September.
The Bank of Japan raised interest rates for the first time in 15 years and unveiled a detailed plan to slow its massive bond buying, taking another step towards normalization.
In July, political volatility came from the US. Trump survived an assassination attempt, Biden ended his 2024 candidacy, and Harris' nomination boosted Democrats' standing in the polls, hinting at a closely contested election.
Equity market underwent a significant rotation during the month, with small cap and value stocks performing well and outperforming mega cap and growth stocks.
The Q2 earnings season has started and brought a mix of both positive and negative surprises, leading to increased market volatility. In summary, the results have been strong on EPS beats but weak on sales. Tech sectors have raised concerns after some disappointment about the pace and timing of AI revenue.