With optimism into spring

After a very turbulent previous month, the financial markets were again characterized by confidence in April, with many stock indices reaching new highs for the year. Although the collapse of some well-known banks continued to be an issue, investors seem to regard these as isolated individual cases and not as the beginning of a larger banking crisis. Continued positive economic data, falling energy prices and a solid Q1 reporting season so far also provided optimism. Even a slight increase in core inflation in Europe and the USA could not dampen this mood. In the fight against inflation, market participants continue to trust the central banks to act in a measured and sensible manner and further interest rate steps have probably already been anticipated.

Our positioning remains unchanged -- we focus on companies with low debt, which are actively meeting current challenges. At the same time, we maintain our hedges.