Monthly Comment March 2020

During March, financial markets were driven by the news flow about the corona virus, Covid-19. A dramatic halt of economic activity has resulted in an abrupt decline in demand, broken production chains and an increased risk of the world economy being thrown into recession. The spread of the virus will be decisive for how markets and society are affected. Massive support measures are being put in place both from central banks, who say they are prepared to do “whatever it takes”, and from governments around the world to help businesses and individuals deal with the difficult financial situation. Some sectors and industries will be affected for a long time while others will return to normal production and see normalised demand relatively soon. We take this opportunity and invest in companies that we believe have become cheap and reduce investment in companies we think will have a hard time under these new conditions.