Investment philosophy

Investment report September 2025 - View into the portfolio

Dear Investors,

At ACATIS Global Value Total Return Fund, we pursue the goal of continuous value growth. We achieve this through a combination of active stock selection and overarching asset allocation. Asset allocation is currently playing a particularly dominant role. As you can see from the attached chart, the investment level (shown in dark grey) is currently at a historically low level. We last saw comparable values in 2015 and at the beginning of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine in February 2022.

To illustrate this, here is the development of the investment level in 2025:

January: 110%  /  February: 98%  /  March: 82%  /  April: 65%  /  May: 74%  /  June: 40%  /  July: 34%  /  August: 33%

The investment level was gradually reduced over the course of the year. Put simply, an investment ratio of 33% (as of August) means that if the stock market rises by 10%, the fund will increase by only around 3.3% – and the same applies in falling markets: if the market falls by 10%, the fund will only fall by around 3.3%. This means that the fund is currently well hedged against downside risk, but will only benefit modestly from any upward movements. 

This is precisely what has been reflected in recent months: the upward trend on the markets was slowed down in the fund by our defensive positioning.

Why this high level of hedging?

Our defensive stance is based on two systematic signals that we continuously monitor:

1. Macroeconomic signal (red in the chart): This includes sentiment indicators, liquidity preferences and factors for measuring the stability of the financial system.

2. Valuation signal (dark blue in the chart): This signals how attractive company valuations are in relation to market prices (simplified: book value to market value).

In recent months, both signals have clearly tended towards "hedging": macroeconomic uncertainty has increased (including Trump's tariff policy and unclear US interests in the Ukraine war), while valuations have remained high, partly due to rising markets. Accordingly, the level of investment remains low.

Conclusion

In retrospect, this decision was not optimal in terms of short-term market performance. However, the current hedging seems well justified, as the world is in a state of turmoil as rarely before. 

Kind regards

Dr. Eric Endreß