Carmignac Portfolio Investissement: Letter from the Fund Manager - Q2 2026
During the second quarter of 2026, Carmignac Portfolio Investissement A USD Acc Hdg delivered a performance of +18.54%, outperforming its reference indicator, which posted a gain of +15.82%3.
Performance since the beginning of year stands at +14.17% compared with +14.28% for its reference indicator.
Market environment
After a volatile first quarter, global equity markets rallied sharply in the second quarter of 2026. The rebound was driven primarily by the de-escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, which triggered a significant decline in oil prices, and by a very strong first-quarter earnings season, particularly among companies exposed to artificial intelligence. Together, these developments encouraged markets to look beyond persistent inflation and monetary-policy concerns.
For much of the quarter, however, market leadership remained highly concentrated within the AI supply chain, particularly in semiconductors. Beneath the surface, the rally became increasingly erratic. While companies such as Micron, Intel, Arm and Marvell rose by several hundred percent, Nvidia performed broadly in line with the major indices. This divergence illustrated both the strength and the fragility of the market environment: enthusiasm around AI remained powerful, but leadership rotated rapidly and valuations became increasingly stretched in certain parts of the sector.
Towards the end of the quarter, early signs of a reversal began to emerge, as market participation broadened beyond the most crowded technology stocks.
From a geographic perspective, emerging markets were the strongest performers, led by exceptional gains in Korea and Taiwan on the back of their semiconductor exposure. US, European and Japanese equities also delivered robust returns, supported by resilient corporate earnings, improving economic confidence and easing geopolitical risks.
Another major event was the SpaceX IPO, the largest in history, followed shortly afterwards by the launch of a $25 billion bond offering. These transactions provided a further illustration of the substantial financing and investment requirements associated with the development of AI infrastructure.
Central banks maintained a hawkish stance during the quarter. The European Central Bank resumed its tightening cycle with a rate increase, while the Bank of Japan continued its gradual policy normalisation. June also marked Kevin Warsh’s first meeting as Federal Reserve Chair. His more hawkish-than-expected tone surprised equity markets. Looking ahead, reduced forward guidance from the Fed could contribute to greater interest-rate volatility, with potential spillover effects across equity markets.
How did we fare in this context?
The Fund outperformed its reference indicator in the second quarter of 2026, with technology providing the largest contribution to both absolute and relative performance. SK Hynix and TSMC were the two main contributors. Following its very strong performance, we took profits in a significant portion of our exposure to the leading memory-chip manufacturer, as its high-beta profile led us to adopt a more cautious stance.
Stock selection in the industrial sector also contributed positively, with Prysmian and Safran among the strongest performers.
Healthcare and financials detracted overall, although several individual holdings delivered strong returns. Lantheus, a diagnostic-imaging specialist focused on radiopharmaceuticals, particularly for prostate cancer detection, performed well, as did digital-payments company Block.
On the negative side, recently initiated position Wise and electronic-trading platform Tradeweb were the largest detractors.
Outlook
Markets remain highly momentum-driven, with narrow leadership and signs of excess in parts of the AI trade. In both the U.S. and Asia, equity indices have been carried by one dominant theme: semiconductors. What began as enthusiasm for the leading AI beneficiaries has increasingly spread to smaller and lower-quality semiconductor names, some of which have doubled or tripled in recent months. In several cases, valuations now appear to discount years of aggressive growth, despite limited visibility on fundamentals. At the same time, many high-quality companies outside technology remain deeply out of favour, despite strong fundamentals and healthy earnings.
In the coming months, we expect the AI debate to enter a new phase. Investors are increasingly questioning whether hardware companies are capturing too much of the value created by AI. Semiconductor and hardware suppliers are benefiting from bottlenecks and pricing power, but rising infrastructure costs could eventually weigh on demand. Efficiency is also becoming a more important theme, with growing focus on cheaper models, open-source alternatives, and better routing of AI workloads to reduce token usage and infrastructure costs.
Against this backdrop, we have tactically reduced our exposure to hyperscalers and moved away from the most speculative semiconductor names. Within the sector, we are increasingly favouring higher-quality market leaders where valuations remain more attractive and earnings visibility is stronger, such as Nvidia.
More broadly, we took profits in technology and reallocated capital towards lagging quality companies in other sectors. Within financials, we used recent weakness to reinforce exposure across a broad range of business models, from emerging-market banks in Latin America, such as Itaú Unibanco, which offer diversification away from the AI trade and indirect exposure to commodities, to payment companies such as Mastercard and financial-market infrastructure providers including S&P Global and Tradeweb. Berkshire Hathaway also entered the portfolio’s top ten holdings, supported by its depressed valuation and defensive characteristics.
In healthcare, we reinforced defensive positions in drug distributors such as Cencora and McKesson, while initiating positions in companies including Zoetis and AstraZeneca.
Our objective is to build a more balanced portfolio. On one side, we retain exposure to the structural growth of AI, with a focus on semiconductor companies. On the other, we are investing in high-quality businesses trading at depressed valuations that should prove resilient and benefit from any broadening or rotation in market leadership.
1A USD Hedged Acc share class.
2Global Large-Cap Growth Equity.
3MSCI AC World NR index.
Carmignac Portfolio Investissement
Carmignac Portfolio Investissement A USD Acc Hdg
- Recommended minimum investment horizon
- 5 years
- Risk indicator*
- 4/7
- SFDR - Fund Classification**
- Article 8
*Risk Scale from the KID (Key Information Document). Risk 1 does not mean a risk-free investment. This indicator may change over time. **Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) 2019/2088. The SFDR classification of the Funds may change over time.
Main risks of the fund
Fees
- Entry costs
- 4.00% of the amount you pay in when entering this investment. This is the most you will be charged. Carmignac Gestion doesn't charge any entry fee. The person selling you the product will inform you of the actual charge.
- Exit costs
- We do not charge an exit fee for this product.
- Management fees and other administrative or operating costs
- 1.80% of the value of your investment per year. This estimate is based on actual costs over the past year.
- Performance fees
- 20.00% when the share class overperforms the Reference indicator during the performance period. It will be payable also in case the share class has overperformed the reference indicator but had a negative performance. Underperformance is clawed back for 5 years. The actual amount will vary depending on how well your investment performs. The aggregated cost estimation above includes the average over the last 5 years, or since the product creation if it is less than 5 years.
- Transaction Cost
- 0.39% of the value of your investment per year. This is an estimate of the costs incurred when we buy and sell the investments underlying the product. The actual amount varies depending on the quantity we buy and sell.
Performance
| Carmignac Portfolio Investissement | +14.2 | +17.9 | +26.8 | +21.6 | −15.8 | +5.1 | +36.3 | +28.0 | −11.8 | +6.5 |
| Reference Indicator | +14.3 | +7.9 | +25.3 | +18.1 | −13.0 | +27.5 | +6.7 | +28.9 | −4.8 | +8.9 |
| Carmignac Portfolio Investissement | +22.7% | +10.5% | +12.2% |
| Reference Indicator | +17.8% | +11.8% | +12.5% |
Source: Carmignac at Jun 30, 2026.
Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future performance. Performances are net of fees (excluding possible entrance fees charged by the distributor). The Fund presents a risk of loss of capital.
The return may increase or decrease as a result of currency fluctuations, for the shares which are not currency-hedged.
Reference Indicator: MSCI AC World NR index
This document is issued by, or communicated on behalf of, Carmignac Middle East Ltd, a company incorporated under the laws of the Dubai International Financial Centre with company number CL 13413 registered at GD-PB-04-01-OF-01-0, Level 1, DIFC Fund Centre, Level POD, Gate District Precinct Building 04, Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates and regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority under reference number F013638.
This document is intended solely for Professional Clients and Market Counterparties, as defined under the applicable rules of the Dubai Financial Services Authority (“DFSA”). It must not be relied upon by, or distributed to, Retail Clients or any other person.
The fund(s) referred to in this document are foreign fund(s) domiciled and regulated in Luxembourg by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (“CSSF”). Carmignac Portfolio refers to the sub-funds of Carmignac Portfolio SICAV, an investment company under Luxembourg law, conforming to the UCITS Directive. Carmignac Private Evergreen refers to the Private Evergreen sub-fund of the SICAV Carmignac S.A. SICAV – PART II UCI, registered with the Luxembourg RCS under number B285278. Unless expressly stated otherwise, they are not domiciled in, authorised by, or subject to regulation or approval by the DFSA. The DFSA has not approved, reviewed or verified this document, the prospectus or any other fund documentation, and the authority does not accept responsibility for the information contained in them or for the merits of an investment in the fund(s).
This document is provided for information purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any financial instrument or fund interest. Any investment decision should be made solely on the basis of the applicable legal offering documents, including the prospectus and, where applicable, the key information document, and after obtaining independent professional advice as appropriate. The information contained in this material may be partial information and may be modified without prior notice. They are expressed as of the date of writing and are derived from proprietary and non-proprietary sources deemed by Carmignac to be reliable, are not necessarily all-inclusive and are not guaranteed as to accuracy. As such, no warranty of accuracy or reliability is given and no responsibility arising in any other way for errors and omissions (including responsibility to any person by reason of negligence) is accepted by Carmignac, its officers, employees or agents.
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Investment in the fund(s) involves risk, including possible loss of capital. The value of investments and income may go down as well as up, and investors may not recover the amount originally invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Performances are net of fees (excluding possible entrance fees charged by the distributor). The return may increase or decrease as a result of currency fluctuations, for the shares which are not currency-hedged. Any target, forecast, projection or forward-looking statement is based on assumptions and is not a guarantee of future performance or return.
Reference to certain securities and financial instruments is for illustrative purposes to highlight stocks that are or have been included in the portfolios of funds in the Carmignac range. This is not intended to promote direct investment in those instruments, nor does it constitute investment advice. The Management Company is not subject to prohibition on trading in these instruments prior to issuing any communication. The portfolios of Carmignac funds may change without previous notice.
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