LHV World Equities Fund

In May we saw this years’ first profit taking from the stock markets which brought the major indices down by 5 to 10%. Stock markets were under pressure due to the collapse of trade negotiations between the US and China. LHV World Equities Fund unit value declined by 7.5%. Largest decliners were China related names as the trade war between the US and China escalated.  The risk-reward ratio in the stock markets has greatly improved after the previous month drop but in the short run we are not rushing with adding any more equity exposure. Fund still holds a considerable cash positions, which we plan to put to work in a more volatile market environment. In May, we reduced our Japanese and Chinese index fund positions. From single stocks we sold a share of Metsa Board and Kion investments and increased Alibaba position. Currently we are more focused on finding investments that are less dependent on the movements in the major indices. We are focusing on picking out companies that are financially sound, that have strong cash flow or long history of growth which should not altered when the first signs of weaknesses in the economy appear. In the short-term, we are causious when it comes to buying new positions. US equity market indices are still trading close to all-time-high levels and they give direction to overall global market moves. Fund holds 27% of the assets in cash position and plans to use it for buying if the market volatility gives an opportunity. For long-term holding we see reasonable valuation in the Europe equities where stock prices are currently cheaper than their historical levels, and in the Asia markets where the trade war problems have been priced in. The Fund’s two larger Baltic positions are the Port of Tallinna and Tallink. Fund’s investments have on average 14% free cash flow yield and 4% dividend yield.