Meriti Ekorren Global Monthly Report – March 2025

Meriti Ekorren Global share class B fell by -9.92% during March and the fund has thus fallen by -9.77 percent during the year. Since the fund's launch on December 4, 2023, the increase in value amounts to +20.4 percent, a result that is +4.3 percentage points stronger than the fund's benchmark index.

Notably, the Swedish krona has strengthened by 9.1 percent against the US dollar so far this year, and by 6.2 percent in March. This development has resulted in a decline in the value of the fund's foreign holdings, thereby burdening the fund's performance.

News about tariffs has affected stock markets throughout the first quarter. After new tariffs on US imports from Mexico, Canada and China were imposed in February, March brought no relief. Instead, the US administration announced new tariffs on steel, aluminium and cars, while changing expectations about the scope of upcoming tariff decisions on 2 April created major swings in market sentiment. Given the heightened uncertainty, it was hardly surprising that the Federal Reserve (Fed) chose not to take any action on interest rates. At its March meeting, it became clear that the Fed was more concerned about the downside risks to growth than the upside risks to inflation. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury note ended the quarter at 4.2 percent, which is 36 basis points lower than at the beginning of January.

Volatility is a natural part of long-term equity investing, and diversification is one of the best countermeasures. There is uncertainty surrounding policy decisions, particularly regarding the pace, scope, and which industries and companies will be affected by, for example, tariffs. As always, there are opportunities for patient investors to invest in companies with strong fundamentals.

For the fund, the month's largest sector-level increase was in the Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment, Banks and Food Beverage & Tobacco sectors. Correspondingly, the largest decrease was in the Telecommunication Services, Commercial & Professional Services and Software & Services sectors.