Q2 was a very positive quarter for the fund, but also for equity markets in general. The turnaround in the leading indicators coupled with a stabilisation of the sentiment indices led to a more favourable attitude among investors towards equities. The Living Planet Fund gained 18.55% in the quarter herewith significantly outperforming the MSCI World (+12.73%) in Euro. While all themes in the fund gained in value, Financial Services was by far the strongest, followed by Consumption as well as Energy and Climate. In the strong upmarket Knowledge Society, the best relative performer in the first quarter couldn’t quite keep up, neither could the Health theme. The British insurer Aviva (+71.2%) was single best stock, followed by Kurita Water (+60.1%), Canadian Hydro Developers (+59.7%), Vestas Wind (+54.7%) and SNS Reaal (+50.0%). One of the few negative performers was Synthes (-17.9%), not surprisingly a healthcare stock.

The sentiment among investors has substantially brightened over the last few months. Investors increasingly believe in the effectiveness of the governments’ and central banks’ actions around the world in turning the economy around. Until we shall start to see a sustainable recovery in the broader economy, we are however likely to advance on the windy and choppy road in the next one or two quarters. The backward looking macro data and companies’ earnings could well come in below investors’ expectations. These potential setbacks in equity prices will provide excellent opportunities to increase the allocation towards equities.