A solid 1st half-year

The financial markets started June with optimism. Strong labor market data in the USA overshadowed concerns about a possible recession in the course of the year. The results of the meetings of the most important central banks also met investors’ expectations and in the meantime ensured all-time highs for several stock market indices. While the US Federal Reserve took a break after ten interest rate hikes in a row, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank continued to turn the interest rate screw and raised their rates by 0.25% each. A euphoria in shares of companies associated with artificial intelligence caused the technology sector to rise further. Although the topic has potential, this reminded us of earlier phenomena in other areas, which then came to an abrupt end. In general, the markets lost momentum towards the end of the month and traded lower again.

Our principle of a reasonable risk-reward ratio allowed us to generate a solid performance in the first half of the year. Focusing on equities of companies with solid balance sheets and positive cash flows was the right recipe and will be for the 2nd half of the year.