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Meriti Neutral share class B rose in value by +1.43 percent during February, and the fund has thus risen by +1.56 percent since the beginning of the year. Since the strategy's inception on June 30, 2010, it has returned +209.9 percent pro forma, while the correlation to the Swedish stock market has been 0.10. Volatility rose during February and the American stock market had headwinds.
Tariff risks, geopolitical tensions, weak economic data, declining consumer confidence and uncertainty about potential interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve led to the S&P 500 Index ending the month down -1.3 percent. European stocks, which have low exposure to information technology, performed well during the month, unlike American stocks, and the S&P Europe 350 Index rose +3.6 percent.
Over the past three months, European purchasing managers' indices have improved, indicating strength in the manufacturing and services sectors. Earnings revisions, the proportion of analysts raising their earnings forecasts compared to lowering them, have also improved. In addition, European banks' profitability, measured as return on equity (ROE), has risen to record levels.
The financial sector was the big winner in February, as in January, with an increase of +8.1 percent. Information technology showed the worst performance of the month with a decrease of -2.7 percent, mainly as a result of weakness in the semiconductor industry following concerns about further US restrictions on chips.
The fund's Value-at-Risk (95%, 1 day) has averaged 0.60 percent during the month and the exposure to the stock market, the fund's estimated beta to global stocks, has averaged 0.26.
At the end of February, the fund had a total gross equity exposure of 203 percent, consisting of 198 bought (long) equity positions balanced by 185 sold (short) equity positions. The size of the long positions averaged 0.54 percent and the short positions averaged -0.52 percent.