January 2025: Stock markets on green
The Sustainable Dividends Value Fund has had a great start to the year. In January, our investors achieved a return of 3.3%. The reduction in interest rates by the European central bank is positive, lowering financing costs for European companies. At the same time, consumers have more money to spend due to increased salaries. Together, these effects are likely to drive corporate profits higher this year. We see a good start to the annual earnings season, where in our fund Airtel Africa in particular stood out. You can read more about this in our overview of ascenders in the portfolio. On average, European stocks in the MSCI Europe index achieved a return of 6.5%, with the ‘Information Technology’ and ‘Luxury Goods’ sectors showing by far the best performance. Since its launch in 2016, investors in our fund achieved returns of over 70%.