The month of June has been quite volatile. It started with a continued stand-off between Europe and Greece. The Stoxx 600 dropped from a high of 400 on the 23rd of June to 373 on July the 8th. The Greek government finally capitulated, and the index rose to a high of 407 on the 20th of July. The index finished the month at 400. The S&P showed the same pattern.

Our European portfolio did much better. Whilst the Stoxx600 dropped 30 basis points, our portfolio added another 210 basis points to finish at a YTD return of 32,9%. Alpha is now at 17,3, an outstanding performance, you will agree.

The US portfolio didn’t do that well. The S&P increased 10 basis points to 2,2% YTD, but our US portfolio dropped from +3,8% to -2%. A few of the stocks that lost value seem to recover in August, but it’s increasingly difficult for value investors to beat the index in North America.