Carmignac Portfolio Merger Arbitrage Plus: Letter from the Fund Managers - Q2 2026
Dear investors,
During the second quarter of 2026, despite a volatile market, Carmignac Portfolio Merger Arbitrage Plus (I EUR Acc share class) delivered a positive performance of +0.61%.
Market environment
During the second quarter of 2026, markets remained volatile, with both equity and credit assets continuing to be affected by geopolitical uncertainty, renewed pressure on energy prices and lingering concerns around parts of the private credit market. Risk appetite remained fragile through April and May, before improving somewhat later in the quarter as investors became more selective and market stress became increasingly idiosyncratic rather than broad-based.
In this environment, merger arbitrage remained broadly resilient, supported by the strategy’s limited directional exposure to equity and credit markets. However, the quarter was marked by significant dispersion across deal spreads. Several situations remained under pressure, including transactions exposed to regulatory approvals, geopolitical risk or delayed closing timelines. Allied Gold, Subsea 7, Warner Bros and certain financial-sector deals experienced periods of spread widening or profit-taking, often without a material deterioration in deal fundamentals.
M&A activity remained healthy over the quarter. Deal volumes were broadly stable in April and May, before accelerating in June, with 25 new transactions announced for a total value of around USD 138 billion. Activity remained concentrated in North America and was supported by several sizeable transactions, including deals in communication services, healthcare, energy and consumer sectors.
Overall, despite a still uncertain macro backdrop and continued volatility across equities and credit, merger arbitrage remained primarily driven by deal-specific catalysts. The quarter highlighted both the importance of selectivity in managing regulatory and geopolitical risks, and the continued availability of attractive opportunities as M&A activity recovered into the quarter end.
Performance review
The M&A strategy demonstrated resilience during the quarter as spreads continued to be driven by idiosyncratic, deal-level catalysts rather than directional equity or credit markets. While market volatility led to temporary spread widening in certain names, this did not reflect higher deal break risk. Quarterly performance was driven by:
- Completion of several big deals: Cantaloupe, Hologic and American Woodmark.
- Performance was also pressured by Allied Gold, whose acquisition by China’s Zijin Mining saw its spread widen amid heightened execution concerns regarding geopolitical tensions in Mali and the pending Chinese antitrust approval.
- M&A pipeline remained robust. Global transaction values were up around 30% year over year according to Bloomberg data.
- Importantly, our deal selection avoided any transaction failures during the quarter.
That said, a handful of spreads proved more volatile than average, detracting modestly to quarterly performance, notably Warner Bros, Norfolk Southern and International Money Express.
Outlook
M&A activity remains well supported despite a more uncertain macro and geopolitical backdrop. The recent wave of large transactions reflects renewed corporate confidence, with companies continuing to pursue scale, synergies and strategic positioning. We expect this momentum to continue in H2 2026, supported by a more pragmatic US antitrust environment and still attractive financing conditions for strategic buyers.
Financial sponsors are also increasingly active, backed by significant dry powder and growing pressure to deploy capital. Improved credit market conditions should continue to support private equity activity, including larger and more complex transactions.
Against this backdrop, merger arbitrage offers an attractive opportunity set. Elevated deal flow, wider spreads and a more supportive execution environment create visible risk-adjusted return potential, while the strategy’s exposure to idiosyncratic corporate events provides useful diversification in markets still marked by uncertainty and elevated correlations. We believe the Fund is well positioned to capture these opportunities.
The Merger Arbitrage Team
Carmignac Portfolio Merger Arbitrage Plus
Carmignac Portfolio Merger Arbitrage Plus I EUR Acc
- Duración mínima recomendada de la inversión
- 3 años
- Escala de riesgo*
- 2/7
- Clasificación SFDR**
- Artículo 8
*Escala de riesgo del KID (Documento de datos fundamentales). El riesgo 1 no implica una inversión sin riesgo. Este indicador podría evolucionar con el tiempo. **Reglamento SFDR (Reglamento sobre la divulgación de información relativa a la sostenibilidad en el sector de los servicios financieros, por sus siglas en inglés) 2019/2088. La clasificación SFDR de los Fondos puede evolucionar con el tiempo.
Principales riesgos del Fondo
Gastos
- Costes de entrada
- No cobramos comisión de entrada.
- Costes de salida
- No cobramos una comisión de salida por este producto.
- Comisiones de gestión y otros costes administrativos o de funcionamiento
- 1,12 % del valor de su inversión al año. Se trata de una estimación basada en los costes reales del último año.
- Comisiones de rendimiento
- 20,00 % max. del exceso de rentabilidad cuando la rentabilidad sea positiva y el valor liquidativo supere la cota máxima o «High-Water Mark». El importe real variará en función de lo buenos que sean los resultados de su inversión. La estimación de los costes agregados anterior incluye la media de los últimos 5 años, o desde la creación del producto si se produjo hace menos de 5 años.
- Costes de operación
- 0,23 % del valor de su inversión al año. Se trata de una estimación de los costes en que incurrimos al comprar y vender las inversiones subyacentes del producto. El importe real variará en función de la cantidad que compremos y vendamos.
Rentabilidades
| Carmignac Portfolio Merger Arbitrage Plus | +1,6 | +4,6 | +3,7 | +3,2 |
| Carmignac Portfolio Merger Arbitrage Plus | +3,5 % | +4,6 % | +4,1 % |
Fuente: Carmignac a 30 de jun. de 2026.
Fecha del primer VL : 14/04/2023.
Las rentabilidades históricas no garantizan rentabilidades futuras. La rentabilidad es neta de comisiones (excluyendo las eventuales comisiones de entrada aplicadas por el distribuidor) El fondo no garantiza la preservación del capital.
La rentabilidad puede aumentar o disminuir como consecuencia de las fluctuaciones de las divisas, en el caso de las acciones que no estén cubiertas por divisas.
Indicador de referencia: -