The fund posted a return of -3.95% in July and is up 2.05% so far this year.

In July, Kraft Strategisk A fell 3.95 percent, driven by a significantly stronger Norwegian krone against the U.S. dollar and the euro. The fund is thus up 2.05 percent so far this year.

Overall, the equity portfolio performed modestly, measured in local currency. At the regional level, the most positive contribution came from European stocks. Asia and emerging markets fell significantly, while the U.S. held up somewhat better.

At the sector level, there were, in some cases, significant differences in performance. The energy sector clearly stood out on the upside, driven by higher oil prices. On the downside, technology stocks dominated. We have not made any significant changes to the portfolio recently.

The fixed-income portfolio saw a slight decline in local currency terms in July, influenced by rising long-term interest rates in several of the largest developed markets. As a reference, the broad S&P Global Developed Aggregate Ex-Coll Bond Index fell by 0.6 percent. The 10-year yield in the U.S. rose from 4.47 to 4.74 percent, a level we haven’t seen in nearly 20 years. An interesting point, however, is that the current level is within the normal range when viewed from an even longer-term perspective.

The second-quarter earnings season has dominated the markets over the past month and can be summarized as positive so far. About two-thirds of the companies in the broad S&P 500 index have reported so far, and over 80 percent have beaten analysts’ earnings expectations. Overall earnings growth is on track to be the strongest since 2021, driven in particular by major investments in artificial intelligence. As a result, future earnings estimates have also risen further, confirming that the earnings trend for the companies we invest in remains very positive.

Sincerely

Stein Frode Aaseng