#Slice of Pie
#Slice of Pie
7/8/2024 2:00:00 AM
#slice of pie

A Message from Mike: Investment Insights from the UK & Europe

Founder and Chief Investment Officer Mike Taylor shares his perspective over the month of June, from over in the UK.

During the past month, I’ve had the opportunity to combine family time with professional engagements in the UK and Europe. As the Chief Investment Officer (CIO), I find it crucial to immerse myself in the investment landscape by meeting companies, attending conferences, and collaborating with brokers and analysts. There’s no substitute for being in the trenches and rolling up my sleeves to keep my finger on the pulse.

The ongoing UK and French elections have been colourful and transformative. Voter preferences have shifted dramatically, favouring anti-establishment parties and leaders. While this has raised initial market uncertainties, it appears that a more moderate outcome is likely, which bodes well for investors.

In terms of performance, US large-cap tech companies, particularly chip makers like NVIDIA, have made significant moves. NVIDIA even briefly surpassed Microsoft as the world’s largest company. Investors in our KiwiSaver Funds and Global Growth 2 Fund benefited from this momentum. However, our UK & Europe small-cap fund faced challenges due to election-related jitters.

Globally, growth is slowing, driven by higher interest rates. Interestingly, New Zealand faces a tougher situation than other countries. Property prices have declined, inflation remains stubbornly high at 5%, mortgage rates hover around 6-7%, and government spending is being slashed. Consequently, our funds have intentionally limited exposure to New Zealand companies.

Lastly, despite the pandemic, travel is rebounding. Heathrow anticipates its busiest summer ever, with an estimated 30 million passengers - sometimes over 260,000 per day. Revenge travel—post-COVID wanderlust—is alive and well, even with higher prices. If you plan to visit national monuments, booking in advance is essential.


Mike Taylor
Chief Investment Officer

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Information is current as at 30 June 2024. Pie Funds Management Limited is the manager and issuer of the funds in the Pie Funds Management Scheme and Pie KiwiSaver Scheme (the Schemes). Any advice is given by Pie Funds Management Limited and is general only. Our advice relates only to the specific financial products mentioned and does not account for personal circumstances or financial goals. Please see a financial adviser for tailored advice. You may have to pay product or other fees, like brokerage, if you act on any advice. As manager of the Schemes’ investment funds, we receive fees determined by your balance and we benefit financially if you invest in our products. We manage this conflict of interest via an internal compliance framework designed to help us meet our duties to you. For information about how we can help you, our duties and complaint process and how disputes can be resolved, or to see our product disclosure statement, please visit www.piefunds.co.nz. Please let us know if you would like a hard copy of this disclosure information. Past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Returns can be negative as well as positive and returns over different periods may vary.


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