As every month, you can read our investment report, in which we offer you a macroeconomic analysis of the market, a presentation of the performance of our funds and their results.
You can also watch our video update on the Digital Funds range.
The summer was dominated by an upsurge in volatility. In the first days of August, a combination of adverse factors of various kinds led to a significant decline in equity indices. Poor economic data from the US and China, a liquidity squeeze following the BoJ’s rate hike, and geopolitical risk premium tensions – all these factors, at a time of year when volumes are traditionally low, weighed on equity indices at their all-time highs. However, the strength of the subsequent rebound enabled indices to end the month up (MSCI Europe NR +1.6%, MSCI USA NR +2.4%). This V-shaped recovery is reassuring, and tells investors a lot about the strength of the market and its micro and macro-economic fundamentals.
Following a +3.6% rise in July (+2.4% in relative terms), Digital Stars Europe Acc posted a +0.3% increase in August, compared with +1.6% for the MSCI Europe NR. The fund is up +15.9% since the beginning of the year, outperforming its index by +3.8%. Over the course of the month, the fund gradually made up some of the ground lost in the early days of August, following a defensive market movement exacerbated by the summer context. This catching-up took place thanks to stocks in a wide variety of sectors, such as Ferrari, Talanx, ALK-abello, Keller and Lotus Bakeries. The portfolio reviews carried out in August were diversified, mainly increasing our positions in the finance sector, as well as in utilities and healthcare. Among the exits were mainly in the consumer discretionary, consumer staples and industrial sectors. Digital Stars Europe is significantly overweight industrials and financials. The fund is underweight healthcare, consumer discretionary and consumer staples. The UK remains the fund’s top weight at 17.9%, ahead of Italy (first overweight) at 15.6% and Germany at 10.3%.
After a rise of +2.7% in July (+2.1% in relative terms), Digital Stars Continental Europe Acc ended August at +0.8%, vs. +1.8% for the MSCI Europe ex UK NR. The fund is up +15.2% since the beginning of the year, outperforming its index by +3.9%. Over the course of the month, the fund gradually made up some of the ground lost in the early days of August, following a defensive market movement exacerbated by the summer context and unfavourable to our stock-picking. This catching-up was achieved thanks to stocks in very different sectors, such as ALK-abello, Ferrari, Lotus Bakeries and Talanx. The portfolio reviews out in August were diversified, mainly increasing positions in healthcare, real estate and finance. Among the exits were mainly stocks in the consumer discretionary and basic materials sectors (metals, chemicals and paper). Digital Stars Continental Europe is overweight in industrials and real estate, and underweight in healthcare, consumer discretionary and consumer staples. Italy (first overweight) is still the fund’s top weight at 17.3%, ahead of Sweden and Germany at 13.4%.
After a +2.3% rise in July (+1.9% on a relative basis), Digital Stars Eurozone Acc achieved -0.1% in August, compared with +1.6% for the MSCI EMU NR. The fund is up +15.2% since the beginning of the year, outperforming its index by +4.7%. Over the course of the month, the fund gradually made up some of the ground lost in the early days of August, following a defensive market movement exacerbated by the summer context and unfavourable to our stock-picking. This catching-up was achieved thanks to stocks in very different sectors, such as Vonovia, Sogefi, Hornbach and Aena. The portfolio reviews in August were marked by an increase in positions in the finance, real estate and healthcare sectors. Among the exits were mainly technology stocks in the service and semiconductor sectors. Real estate remains the fund’s main overweight, ahead of consumer discretionary, media and finance. The fund is underweight in consumer staples, utilities, energy and technology. France remains the top weighting at 21.0%, followed by Germany at 20.3% and Italy at 18.3%. Italy remains the most overweighted country, and France the most underweighted.
After a +3.9% rise in July (-0.4% in relative terms), Digital Stars Europe Smaller Companies Acc ended August up +1.6%, outperforming the MSCI Europe Small Cap NR (-0.3%) by +1.9%. The fund is up +17.6% since the beginning of the year, outperforming its index by +8.5%. Over the course of the month, the fund more than made up the ground lost in the early days of August, following a defensive market movement exacerbated by the summer context and initially unfavourable to our stock-picking. This catch-up was achieved thanks to stocks in a wide variety of sectors, such as Ambea, Keller, Hoist Finance, IMMOFINANZ and Lotus Bakeries. The portfolio reviews in August were marked by an increase in positions in the finance and healthcare sectors, particularly in the UK. Among the outflows were mainly consumer discretionary and energy stocks, and mainly Italian stocks. The portfolio is now mainly overweight in industrials, finance and healthcare, and underweight in real estate, consumer discretionary, energy and technology. The United Kingdom (the most underweight country) remains the portfolio’s largest weighting at 24.3%, ahead of Sweden at 15.8% (the second most overweight country behind Finland) and Switzerland at 8.0%.
Following a +6.9% rise in July (+5.7% on a relative basis), Digital Stars US Equities Acc USD ended August up +1.9%, versus +2.4% for the MSCI USA NR and -0.4% for the MSCI USA Small Cap NR. The fund is up +19.2% since the beginning of the year, versus +18.8% for the MSCI USA NR and +9.2% for the MSCI USA Small Cap NR. August was marked by the underperformance of small and mid-cap stocks, despite the poor performance of GAFAMs. The fund was more affected by the former than the latter. Against this backdrop, good earnings announcements from stocks such as SharkNinja and Crexendo enabled the fund to come close to outperforming its index. The latest monthly portfolio review mainly strengthened positions in financials, and sharply reduced positions in consumer discretionary, bringing the fund back in line with its benchmark index. The fund is heavily overweighted in industry and finance. The most underweight sectors are technology and media.
