The Fund's performance was positive, outperforming its reference indicator during both the early August drawdown and the subsequent rebound.
The decision to have a defensive stance of the portfolio have paid off this week with Colgate and Procter & Gamble were the biggest contributors during the month;
Our investments in the healthcare sector, which is also a defensive sector, performed well in the current market environment.
Conversely, our technology stocks, particularly those in the software segment with relatively high beta, faced significant challenge
The summer volatility combined with US economic slowdown and central banks expected rates cut response should continue to favor defensive over cyclical stocks.
In line with this view, we are keeping our defensive bias in the portfolio and are comfortable with our current positioning favoring companies with high visibility and low earnings volatility.
We also view the potential increase in volatility as an opportunity to consider investing in/increasing quality stocks that were previously trading at higher multiples.
Another sector we favor is financial(mainly exchange not banks). This sector stands to benefit from a more favorable interest-rate environment.
North America | 67.1 % |
Europe | 32.9 % |
Total % Equities | 100.0 % |
Market environment
The equity markets experienced a volatile month in August 2024: despite the ferocity and depth of the sell-off in early August, equity markets were quick to recover, with many indices back at their previous highs at the end of the month.
Several forces triggered the sell-off in early August, including weak US macro data which exacerbated expectations for rate cuts, the implosion of the Yen carry trade as well as other technical market factors.
The month was also marked by the earnings season during which elevated market volatility in response to a few Q2 reports were masking the reality of better-than-expected earnings season.
At the end of the month, all eyes were on Nvidia ‘s earnings report which revealed earnings that fell short of expectations, even though revenue more than doubled in the last quarter.
Overall, August saw a "defensive" sector rotation with utilities, staples, healthcare outperforming.