Meriti Neutral share class A rose during March by +1.16 percent and the fund has thus risen by +3.57 percent since the turn of the year. Since the start of the strategy pro forma on 30/06/2010, the fund has returned +187.1 percent while the correlation to the Swedish stock market has been 0.10.
The stock market's positive development continued during March. The big tech companies continued to perform strongly, but it is notable that the stock market rise was broadened to more and more stocks and sectors during the month. European shares also developed strongly and the broad index S&P Europe 350 Index increased by +4.1 percent during the month.
At its policy meeting in March, the Federal Reserve left the key interest rate unchanged, in line with market expectations. The general view is that both the Federal Reserve and the ECB will implement their first policy rate cuts in June. In Europe, inflation has fallen faster than in the US, and recent data indicate an inflation rate of around 2.6 percent. It is still some way off from the important 2 percent level, but the rate of decline is important to the ECB.
Data from LSEG I/B/E/S on company reports shows that European companies' profits during Q4 2023 are expected to be 6.5 percent lower than the corresponding quarter of the previous year. If the companies in the energy sector are excluded, the decline amounts to -1.3 percent. Of the countries included in the fund's investment universe, the Danish companies show the strongest growth (+11 percent), while the companies in the energy-heavy Norwegian stock market show the weakest (-46 percent).
The fund as a whole generated positive returns on 12 out of 22 trading days. The fund's Value-at-Risk (95%, 1 day) averaged during the month
to 0.41 percent and the exposure to the stock market, the fund's estimated beta to the world index, has averaged 0.22.

Meriti Neutral Monthly Report – March 2024