November 2024: Import tariff fears cause unrest in Europe
The election of Trump as the new U.S. president and his campaign promise to impose higher import tariffs caused significant turmoil in the stock markets. European companies may face challenges from this, putting European stock prices under considerable pressure. Moreover, third-quarter figures were not always enthusiastically received by the market. A number of companies in our fund, including Fugro, TKH, and DHL, disappointed investors. The positive effects of better-than-expected figures from Vopak and Norbit were insufficient to compensate for this. Despite markets recovering somewhat at the end of the month, the fund’s price ultimately fell by 1.8% from the beginning of November. On average, European stocks in the MSCI Europe index rose by 1.1%. The current valuation of stocks in our fund, at 7 to 8 times expected cash flow, is very low. We see significant potential for positive price developments when attention shifts back to undervalued stocks of dividend-paying companies with strong balance sheets. Over the past 12 months, the fund’s return is nearly 13%, and since inception in 2016, more than 63%.