EN 
SE 
The stability from 2023 continues, with Exelity closing March with a net return of +2.2%, and is thus +7.4% for 2024 (after fees). Although there is no relevant benchmark against Exelity's unique profile, we note that the fund outperforms most indices both in 2023 (Exelity +26.6% after fees) and thus far in 2024. OMX Small Cap PI closed the first quarter at -0 .6%, while the OMX First North Index ended at -1.8%, and the OMX Stockholm PI +6.1%.
The fund's largest holding Smart Eye (9% by Exelity) had a tough month with -12%, which was well offset by CTT Systems (+19%) as well as the transaction leg which closed +2.5% for the month. Despite Exelity's fairly concentrated portfolio, the fund's three largest shareholdings only make up 22% of NAV. The equity stake as of the end of March is 61% of Exelity, and is +28% since I took over Exelity in the fall of 2023.
Over the past 15 months, Exelity has only had two negative return months, with the largest decline amounting to -1.6% (September 2023). This can be compared to OMX Small Cap where ten months have shown negative returns (biggest decline: -15% Sep-2023) since January 2023. One reason why Exelity pares the declines well is the transaction leg, which generates good returns regardless of the market climate. During the month of March, the transaction leg was +2.5%, and is thus +6.8% for the year. The loan leg has continued to develop stably and constitutes 30% of the fund's core as of the end of March, a decrease from the previous month which is largely due to the repayment of loans from Acconeer. It bears mentioning that the loan portfolio is made up of listed companies, all but one of which are listed on the Swedish stock exchange. Exelity has continued to have zero loan defaults since inception, where we continue to reserve for potential losses.
During March, we signed three new guarantees, where the future guarantee compensation from all signed guarantees is currently expected to amount to approximately 2.8% of NAV. We continue to selectively underwrite in rights issues, where the average outcome in 2023 has been 20%. We note that Exelity's quantitative modeling for loans and guarantees continues to create strong value for the fund's shareholders, and is a main reason for the fund's strong development in transactions.
After a strong development in 2023 and Q1'24, I look forward with confidence to the second quarter where Exelity's pipeline is judged to remain solid.