DNCA INVEST BEYOND CLIMATE APRIL 2025

April was characterized by a level of volatility not seen since the start of the health crisis in February 2020, as evidenced by the Fear Index (Vix), which broke 50 points at the beginning of the period. The particularly high tariffs announced by the US President on "Liberation Day" plunged the world's stock markets into uncertainty, sounding the dreaded "grey swan" whistle. Risks to economic growth and inflation, a weakening dollar, the likelihood of stagflation - all the ingredients were in place for a correction of over -10% in the world's main equity indices. The 90-day truce announced a week later triggered a major rebound in the markets, which finally erased their decline, ending the month with an almost stable performance in local currency. From an economic point of view, although this context has led to a downward revision of expected growth this year to around +2.5%, the various data published in Europe and the United States (lower inflation, still solid job market, leading indicators of economic activity still in the growth zone) do not reflect the future effects of this environment. Similarly, the first-quarter earnings season has been a good one, despite reduced visibility. It will take time for financial markets to see and value the effects of this price war. Finally, the dollar was the big loser of the month, with a correction close to -4.5% against the world's main currencies.

Against this backdrop, the fund posted a monthly performance of 1.96%, compared with 0.31% for its Euro Stoxx NT benchmark, giving a positive relative performance of 165.

Over the month, the main relative outperformances of the stocks in the portfolio (versus Euro Stoxx) were : Seche Environnement (+48 bps, active weight +2.2%), Siemens Energy (+34 bps, active weight +1.2%), Spie (+31 bps, active weight +3.5%), Geberit (+30 bps, active weight +2.9%) and Nibe Industrier (+19 bps, active weight +2.8%). Conversely, the worst relative performers were : Arcadis (-26 bps, active weight +2.5%), Dassault Systèmes (-13 bps, active weight +1.7%), Prysmian ( -10 bps, active weight +3.2%), Infineon (-10 bps, active weight +1.9%) and Crédit Agricole (-8 bps, active weight +3.4%).

Among the main moves, we added the German real estate company Vonovia to our selection and increased our exposure to the French company Saint Gobain. We also took some profits on Veolia Environnement, Iberdrola, Spie, Knorr Bremse, Siemens Energy and Caixabank.

At month-end, the portfolio comprised 34 stocks. Overall, the fund's top 10 holdings account for almost 39% of net assets, with the following top 5 stocks: ASML (>4.5%), SSE (>4%), Veolia Environnement (>4.0%), Intesa SanPaolo (>3.5%) and Schneider Electric (>3.5%).

During this period of high volatility, the fund performed relatively well, both in the correction and in the rebound phase following the de-escalation of the trade war. The industrial pocket (nearly 40% of the fund) and exposure to Utilities (20% of the fund) offered an interesting balance in these different market cycles. While caution was the order of the day, with downward revisions to expected earnings growth, the current publication period is going rather well in view of the commercial context. Nevertheless, we note 3 points of vigilance: currency effects (particularly the dollar), stockpiling effects ahead of potential price hikes, which may temporarily accelerate business volumes, and the lack of visibility on annual prospects. In all likelihood, second-quarter publications will be a better indicator of business trends and profitability. With an investment ratio that has been reduced to around 94.5%, the management team will continue to take advantage of the episodes of volatility that are likely to emerge as a result of the US administration's announcements