LHV World Equities Fund

In July, fund unit value increased by 2.2%. Fund’s investments were supported by positive quarterly corporate results and economic indicators that were recovering rapidly from the pandemic. At the same time, there was increased uncertainty due to a new wave of the coronavirus, which led to short-term declines in the equity markets in the middle of the month. For now, the new wave of the coronavirus has not changed our investment outlook. At the moment, the new wave of the virus is spreading primarily among unvaccinated people, and as long as more serious cases among vaccinated people remain minimal, we expect the world economy to continue to grow.   It is positive that companies’ profits have not only recovered but, in most cases, have risen above pre-pandemic levels. This is to be expected, as our fund positions are currently focused on stocks that are more dependent on the business cycle. At the moment, there is a trend for growth, during which high-quality companies are expected to do well.   Among our major investments, the Finnish wood industry company UPM-Kymmene saw a strong growth in prices for all major products in the second quarter. Another Finnish wood industry company, Stora Enso, also saw an increase in demand in all lines of business. Among banks, Swedbank reported that interest income remained stable in the second quarter, while income from fees and commissions increased, loan losses decreased and net profit increased. Results were also very strong among medtech companies that have made one of the largest gains this year. In July, Swedish medtech company Getinge contributed the most to fund unit value growth. Of the global positions in the commodities sector, copper mining company Freeport McMoRan reported an increase in mining volumes of copper and gold, which doubled turnover and increased operating profit fivefold (albeit based on a low benchmark).   Of the new investments, we bought shares of Swedish mining technology company Sandvik and shares of Valaris from the energy sector, which will benefit from the rise in oil prices. We also bought shares of video game manufacturers Take-Two Interactive and Electronic Arts from the US stock exchange. These companies are owning world-famous game series such as GTA and FIFA, which offer a stable cash flow. In light of the increased regulatory risks, we sold the shares of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.