The month of June was positive for the global equity markets and the World Index rose just 3% in EUR. The US equity markets posted the strongest performance, driven by the major US technology companies. Emerging markets also posted strength in the period. In contrast, the stock markets in Europe lagged. Market rates fell in June, which led bond funds to outperform fixed income funds with shorter duration. The market continued to focus on inflation data and the actions of the central banks. As expected, the European Central Bank cut interest rates at the beginning of June. The upcoming elections in France, UK and US have periodically affected the financial markets.
We increased the fund’s holdings in Handelsbanken Global Digital and Handelsbanken Hälsovård Tema. We also added a new global equity fund, JPMorgan Global Research Enhanced Index Fund, whose strategy is based on Handelsbanken’s sustainability framework. We decreased the exposure to US small caps and made a corresponding increase in European small caps where we currently see greater potential. In the alternative holdings we purchased the hedge fund AQR Adaptive Equity Market Neutral Fund, which invests in a number of different strategies.
We are maintaining our positive outlook on risk assets and expect the inflation rate to continue to decline and that economic growth will gain momentum. In this climate we also expect to see higher corporate earnings. As a result, we believe there are good conditions for a further rise in the equity markets and therefore remain overweight in equities relative to fixed income investments. We see the strongest potential in high-quality companies, small caps, digitalization, healthcare and real estate. Within the fixed income holdings we prefer corporate bonds as we believe these offer attractive yields.