A growth of 10.3% for the first quarter of the year was reported by MF Compass Global Trends in the recovery of the global financial markets.

The price per one share of Compass Global Trends was 1.1771 BGN at the end of March, increasing by 10.30% for the first quarter of the year and 2.56% in March. Compared to the beginning of the year, we observe significant growth in almost all geographical regions. The change in the tone of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) on rising interest rates, as well as the lack of additional tariffs on Chinese goods, restored optimism in financial markets.

In the last month, however, concerns about global economic growth together with central bank stimulus measures, have pushed bond rates down. As a result, interest rates on 10-year-old German bonds reached negative territory for the first time since 2016, and in the United States we saw a short-term reversal of the yield curve (short-term interest rates are higher than long-term interest rates).

Last month, the largest growth of shares among the companies in the portfolio of MF Compass Global Trends was reported by the French computer game development company Ubisoft Entertainment (+ 24.98% in BGN), followed by the German-based software company Nemetschek AG (+ 18.38% in BGN). The shares of the video card manufacturer NVIDIA Corp (+ 18.28% in BGN), the Indian bank ICICI Bank Ltd (+ 18.10% in BGN) and the Spanish company managing telecommunication towers in Europe Cellnex Telecom (+15.09% in BGN).

After a positive start to the year, the reasons for optimism (monetary policy and trade relations between the USA and China) now seem to be largely reflected in market movements. Although it is possible that the same factors will continue to support growth in financial markets, the economic cycle phase does not imply an upward movement of the same magnitude, but rather increased volatility. In this context, the selected companies in the portfolio of MF Compass Global Trends, although not fully immune to the general market sentiment, have a solid foundation and unique competitive advantages that should positively distinguish the performance of their shares compared to the long-term market average.

With respect,

The Compass Invest JSC team