Portfolio manager comments — Q3 2024
Q3 was a strong period for US small caps, despite major fluctuations in the market. The upturn was driven primarily by the fact that US inflation has now reached a level where the central bank can begin a cycle of rate cuts that in turn created a significant rotation of capital in small caps overall. Cyclical sectors such as real estate, regional banks and consumer companies in particular posted strong performance. Industrial companies also performed strongly in anticipation of a so-called “soft landing” for the US economy. The high risk appetite in the market means that the fund lost ground against its benchmark index, primarily due to the absence of exposure to regional banks. At the same time, the fund’s returns benefited from a strong report from Cooper as well as positive contributions from the holdings in Q2 Holdings and Cavco Industries.
On the negative side, the fund was weighed down by the weak performance of Napco Security, Alarm.com and Janus International. We sold the entire holdings in both Napco and Janus during the quarter. We also sold holdings in the Canadian company Altus Group. The fund’s absolute returns were negatively affected by a weakened USD.
Several new companies were added to the fund, which included the insurance broker Brown&Brown, the real estate company Essential Properties and the analysis and outsourcing company Exlservice. The fund continues to hold high-quality companies with exposure to structurally strong themes such as re-shoring, electrification and digitalization.