Februar war ein guter Monat für europäische Aktien, auch wenn es zum Monatsende hin zu verstärkter Volatilität kam. Der Anstieg der Renditen 10-jähriger US-Staatsanleihen setzte den Aktienmarkt unter Druck. Das Portfolio des ECP Strategic Selection Fund – European Value (WKN A14YQK, ISIN LU1169207518) mit seinem Fokus auf ausgewählte europäische Value-Aktien zeigte sich in diesem Marktumfeld stabil und legte um +4,03 Prozent im Monatsverlauf zu – eine klare Outperformance gegenüber den europäischen Märkten insgesamt (+1,49 Prozent). In seinem aktuellen Monatsbericht für Februar analysiert ECP-FondsManager Léon Kirch die jüngsten Marktbewegungen und gibt Auskunft darüber, welche Veränderungen er im Portfolio des ECP-Fonds vorgenommen hat.
February was a good month for European equities despite some volatility in the last trading week. The uncertainty came from the bond market with the US 10 year Treasury yield rising to 1.5% above the level of the dividend yield of the S&P 500. With the world’s biggest bond market under pressure, it is not surprising that equity markets also suffered. The long duration stocks, like technology, were particularly hit. While this is painful, we should not forget as long term investors that 1/ markets simply start to price in an economic recovery and 2/ benign inflation has historically been good for equity markets and 3/ interest rates are still low in a historic context. Our value strategy was up 4.03% during the month, outperforming the European markets by 1.49%.
With rising yields and a steepening yield curve, our holdings in financials were contributing most to overall performance during the month. Here our recent investments in AXA and ING are already contributing significantly to performance alongside with Austrian bank Bawag that came out with solid results and continues to act as an active consolidator withing the German banking industry by acquiring Depfa Bank . Also our industrial holdings contributed significantly, driven by Hapag Lloyd who continues to upgrade its profit guidance due to the soaring freight rates and driven by FLS.
We did not exit or acquire any new businesses during the month. Most of our companies have now published their Q4 results. In a difficult operating environment, results were solid and the earnings are growing again. We are convinced the reflation trade is alive and well and our portfolio is positioned for a recovery in business activity. European equities still look relatively inexpensive, are at the beginning of a certain normalization of economic activity with the rollout of vaccines, earnings are recovering and value stocks, who are particularly sensitive to an economic rebound, are at an unseen discount to their growth counterparts. “All that’s required is the passage of time, an inner calm,” began a sentence in Warren Buffett’s 2020 letter to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway. This is exactly our mindset when we look at our portfolio of businesses and invest for the long term.
