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Carmignac Absolute Return Europe: Letter from the Fund Managers - Q4 2025
Over the last quarter of 2025, Carmignac Absolute Return Europe (A EUR Acc share class) realized a positive performance of +2.3%.
Market environment
European equities ended the year on a strong note, materially outperforming U.S. markets in the fourth quarter. This relative performance was supported by a tangible improvement in macroeconomic confidence: euro area inflation continued to converge toward the ECB’s 2% target, policy uncertainty eased, and the third-quarter earnings season proved resilient. Crucially, market leadership broadened beyond a narrow cohort of stocks, pointing to healthier and more sustainable equity market dynamics.
That said, economic momentum remained uneven. Services activity continued to demonstrate resilience, while manufacturing stayed subdued outside structurally supported segments such as defence and energy security, reflecting weak global demand and limited order visibility.
At the sector level, Basic Resources led performance, followed by another robust quarter for banks, driven by solid earnings delivery and ongoing capital returns. Utilities also posted strong gains, while Healthcare staged a convincing rebound after a period of underperformance as sentiment and news flow improved. Conversely, Media, Chemicals, Technology, Industrials, and Real Estate lagged the broader market.
Performance review
Against this backdrop, the portfolio delivered a positive end to the year. Performance in the final quarter was driven primarily by Financials, Healthcare, Industrials, Technology, and Materials, with the majority of sectors contributing positively. Modest losses were confined to Consumer Staples, Consumer Discretionary, and Utilities, reflecting disciplined risk management and active portfolio construction.
During the quarter, we increased exposure to Financials, which remains our highest-conviction allocation. We believe banks continue to offer attractive earnings growth at compelling valuations, supported by strong capital generation, rising dividends, and ongoing share buybacks. Exposure was increased both through core positions and selective new investments. We also added to Healthcare following a meaningful derating, and to Industrials, where we see attractive niche opportunities underpinned by strong order visibility. Within Materials, exposure was increased to both industrial and precious metals, which delivered solid returns. These additions were funded by tactical reductions in Communications, Consumer Staples, and Consumer Discretionary, where the risk-reward profile had become less attractive.
Reflecting a more supportive investment environment, gross exposure was increased through much of the quarter into the high-120% range, before being tactically reduced toward year-end to reassess opportunities. Improving earnings momentum following the third-quarter reporting season allowed net exposure to rise into the high-20% range.
On a stock level, the main contributors were:
| Long position in DSV | Strong Q3 earnings delivery and increasing confidence in value creation from the Schenker acquisition |
| Long position in Banca Monte dei Paschi | Clear earnings beat and upgraded guidance |
| Long position in Galderma | Significant positive earnings surprise |
| Long position in Sartorius | Bioprocess solutions revenues and margins exceeded expectations |
| Long position in Société Générale | Rerating driven by positive earnings revisions |
On a stock level, the main detractors were:
| Long position in Prosus | Impacted by profit-taking in Tencent |
| Long position in Relx | AI-related concerns appear excessive relative to fundamentals |
| Long position in Allegro | Modest reduction to full-year revenue guidance |
| Long position in Dell | Margin concerns linked to rising memory prices |
| Long position in Deutsche Post | Underperformed despite a more constructive broker backdrop |
Outlook
Looking into Q1 2026, we remain constructively positioned but selective. In Europe, growth is stabilising rather than accelerating, supported by resilient domestic demand, easing inflation, and a gradual shift toward more supportive fiscal policy, most notably in Germany. Euro area growth is expected to remain modest, around 1–1.5%, but this should be sufficient to underpin earnings stability and generate selective upside. Monetary easing initiated by the ECB in 2025 should increasingly feed through in 2026, while European equity valuations are expected to remain compelling relative to the U.S.
Beyond Germany, we see particularly attractive upside potential in Sweden. PMIs are firmly in expansionary territory, fiscal policy is turning more supportive, interest rates are declining, and the high proportion of variable-rate mortgages provides a powerful transmission mechanism to household demand. With an election year approaching, we see scope for positive growth and earnings surprises, reinforcing our decision to build selective Nordic exposure.
Overall, the European equity outlook supports cautious optimism. Earnings expectations for 2026 have improved to mid-single-digit growth. While this does not point to a strong cyclical upswing, it reinforces the case for active stock selection. We continue to favour banks, cyclicals, and industrials benefiting from fiscal spending, while tactically positioning for mean reversion in parts of the autos sector following a prolonged period of weakness.
In the U.S., the outlook remains fundamentally earnings-driven but increasingly constrained by valuations. AI-led growth continues to dominate market performance; however, elevated multiples leave equities more sensitive to shifts in interest rate expectations and policy uncertainty. As a result, we are broadening exposure away from concentrated technology risk toward more cyclically exposed industrial and consumer names where valuations are more supportive.
Q1 2026 is therefore likely to be shaped by the balance between maintaining exposure to proven winners and selectively exploiting opportunities among 2025 laggards, where we believe valuation dislocations offer attractive risk-reward. While banks remain our highest-conviction allocation, we are actively managing exposure following strong performance and ahead of potentially more cautious management guidance. Active positioning, disciplined risk management, and a continued focus on earnings delivery remain central to our investment approach.
Carmignac Absolute Return Europe A EUR Acc
- Aanbevolen minimale beleggingstermijn*
- 3 jaar
- Risicoschaal**
- 2/7
- SFDR-fondscategorieën***
- Artikel 8
*Aanbevolen minimale beleggingstermijn: Dit deelnemingsrecht/deze klasse is mogelijk niet geschikt voor beleggers die voornemens zijn hun inleg voor afloop van de aanbevolen termijn op te nemen. Deze verwijzing naar een beleggersprofiel is geen beleggingsadvies. Welk bedrag redelijkerwijs in een ICBE kan worden belegd hangt af van uw persoonlijke situatie en moet worden bekeken in relatie tot uw totale portefeuille. **Het profiel kan variëren van 1 tot 7, waarbij categorie 1 overeenkomt met een lager risico en een lager potentieel rendement, en categorie 7 met een hoger risico en een hoger potentieel rendement. De categorieën 4, 5, 6 en 7 impliceren een hoge tot zeer hoge volatiliteit, met grote tot zeer grote prijsschommelingen die op korte termijn tot latente verliezen kunnen leiden. ***De Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) 2019/2088. De SFDR-classificatie van de fondsen kan in de loop van de tijd veranderen.
Voornaamste risico's van het Fonds
Kosten
- Instapkosten
- 4,00 % van het bedrag dat u betaalt wanneer u in deze belegging instapt. Dit is het hoogste bedrag dat u in rekening zal worden gebracht. Carmignac Gestion brengt geen instapkosten in rekening. De persoon die verantwoordelijk is voor de verkoop van het product zal u informeren over de feitelijke kosten.
- Uitstapkosten
- Wij brengen voor dit product geen uitstapkosten in rekening.
- Beheerskosten en andere administratie - of exploitatiekos ten
- 2,15 % van de waarde van uw belegging per jaar. Dit is een schatting op basis van de feitelijke kosten over het afgelopen jaar.
- Prestatievergoedingen
- 20,00 % max. van de meerprestatie als het rendement positief is en de netto-inventariswaarde de high-water mark overschrijdt. Het feitelijke bedrag zal variëren naargelang van de prestaties van uw belegging. De schatting van de totale kosten hierboven omvat het gemiddelde over de afgelopen vijf jaar, of sinds de introductie van het product als dat minder dan vijf jaar geleden is.
- Transactiekosten
- 1,05 % van de waarde van uw belegging per jaar. Dit is een schatting van de kosten die ontstaan wanneer we de onderliggende beleggingen voor het product kopen en verkopen. Het feitelijke bedrag zal variëren naargelang hoeveel we kopen en verkopen.
- Roerende voorheffing
- Belasting van dividend en rente op jaarbasis (via de simulator)
- Roerende voorheffing bij verkoop
- ─
- Taks op beursverrichtingen (TOB)
- ─
- Conversiekosten
- 0%
Rendement
| Carmignac Absolute Return Europe | −0,6 | +3,6 | +0,0 | −6,4 | +12,6 | +5,2 | −1,3 | +4,4 | +14,6 | +8,9 |
| Carmignac Absolute Return Europe | +1,0 % | +1,6 % | +3,9 % |
Bron: Carmignac op 31 dec. 2025.
Het beheer van dit deelnemingsrecht/deze klasse is niet gebaseerd op de indicator. In het verleden behaalde resultaten en waarden bieden geen garantie voor toekomstige resultaten en waarden. De vermelde rendementen zijn netto na aftrek van alle kosten, met uitzondering van eventuele in- en uitstapkosten, en worden verkregen na aftrek van kosten en belastingen die van toepassing zijn op een gemiddelde detailhandelsklant die als natuurlijke persoon woonachtig is in België. Wanneer de valuta afwijkt van uw eigen valuta, bestaat er een valutarisico dat kan resulteren in een waardedaling. De referentievaluta van het fonds/subfonds is de EUR. Het fonds houdt een risico op kapitaalverlies in.
Het rendement kan stijgen of dalen als gevolg van valutaschommelingen voor de aandelen die niet valutadekkend zijn.
Referentie-indicator: -
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