Portfolio manager comments — Q1 2025
Fund performance was negative during Q1 2025. The year began strongly with a clear upturn in the stock market during January that continued until the end of February. The upturn was driven by strong reports in Q4 2024, expectations of peace in Ukraine, and signals for upcoming stimulus measures in Europe. We also saw an increased flow of capital out of the US and into European markets, which strengthened share price performance further.
However, the market declined in March and wiped out the upturn for the entire year. This was primarily due to Trump’s repeated statements about tariffs across the world, which created concerns about stagflation in the US.
Truecaller, Afry, MTG and the new investment in Asker were the primary contributors in the fund. The first three companies released quarterly figures and news that were well-received by the market. Asker’s IPO was significantly oversubscribed and rose 20% on the first trading day.
Biotage, Sdiptech and Stillfront, as well as the fund’s underweights within the bank and telecom sectors continued to have a negative impact. Investors have temporarily lost interest in these three companies, despite attractive valuations from a historical perspective and relative to other similar companies. European bank equities benefited in particular from the capital flow into Europe. Telecom equities rose in the function of defensive operations without exposure to the US or threats of tariffs.
Volvo Car, Asker Healthcare and Asmodee were the fund’s largest investments in the period, while the most significant sales were made in Skanska, Sobi and EQT.
We remain positive to an improved industrial economy towards the end of the year and expect a recovery in consumption in Northern Europe. The decline in March has created several attractive investment opportunities, particularly among small and mid-sized companies. At the same time, there is significant uncertainty in the short term about the president’s next move.