Detaillierte Informationen finden Sie im Infocenter zum Download. Der folgende Managerkommentar beschreibt die Entwicklung der letzten Wochen und Monate. Der Ausblick für die zukünftige Entwicklung ist positiv.
Recent highlights
Small cap stocks continued in their winning ways in the month of August, surging ahead by 4.6% versus a 2.0% gain for the S&P 500. This is the sixth month in a row that small cap stocks have outpaced large caps, and they are now ahead by a whopping 15 percentage points for the year to date (+31.0% for the Russell 2000 vs. +16.0% for the S&P 500). Most of this year-to-date advantage may be traced to performance following the commencement of the Iraqi war in late March. As uncertainties fueled by war-related fears began to dissipate, small cap stocks began a steady upward climb that has yet to slow. In this environment, small cap growth stocks have done particularly well, surging in price by 37% from March 21st through August 31st (vs. a 29% gain for the Russell 2000 Value and a 13% rise for the S&P 500).
UBS (Lux) Equity Fund - Small Caps USA increased 6.6% during August, which was ahead of the strong 5.4% performance turned in by the Russell 2000 Growth benchmark. Year to date, the Portfolio is up 31.9%, versus a 35.3% total return for the Growth Index. In August, the Fund benefited from good stock picking in virtually every sector, with particular success in Consumer Discretionary and Information Technology stocks. Sector selection was a slight negative for the month, with the Portfolio hurt by modest overweights in the lacklustre Financial and Consumer Staples areas. Similarly, underweights in the strong performing Information Technology and Telecommunications sectors also hurt returns modestly.
At month end, the fund was moderately overweighted in the Consumer Staples, Energy, Financials, and Healthcare sectors, while it was modestly underweighted in the Information Technology, Industrials, and Telecommunications areas. As noted in previous letters, we have been steadily nibbling away at our Information Technology underweight during the past couple of months, and we probably will continue to do so going forward as we identify attractive values in this area.
Outlook and Strategy
In the past several months, small cap stocks have been profiting from two trends: 1) a reduction in financial market volatility following the Iraqi war (which favored more speculative small cap stocks), and 2) a perceived strengthening of the economy, which bolsters the prospects of smaller, more economically sensitive companies. Although the decline in war-induced financial market uncertainty has largely run its course, small caps still are benefiting from the gradual pickup in the economy. This improvement will likely continue to propel small cap earnings growth ahead of large caps; indeed, small cap earnings have outpaced large cap earnings for more than three years and this trend may well strengthen going forward.
Factoring in the favorable relative valuations that support small caps vs. large caps, we think the rally in small caps still has a ways to go. Note, too, that small cap growth stocks have outperformed small cap value stocks in 11 out of the last 12 months. Although the sustained recovery by growth stocks has been impressive, the magnitude of the outperformance (+12 percentage points over the past year) has been quite small by historical standards, especially when compared to small growth’s huge underperformance relative to value in the prior three years. Accordingly, we expect small cap growth stocks to continue in their winning ways for the foreseeable future.
Should you have any questions concerning the above information or UBS Funds in general, please contact our UBS Fund Infoline (+41 1 235 36 36) between 8:00 a.m. and 5.30 p.m.
