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5.10.2021 Alpine Select Ltd.: Monthly Update September 2021

 

Alpine Select has published the monthly update September 2021.
Klick here to download the monthly report.

 

Alpine Select hat den Monatsbericht September 2021 publiziert (nur in Englisch).
Klicken Sie hier um den Bericht einzusehen.




Market commentary

September has proven to be a rollercoaster for equity indices leaving many indices in loss territory: S&P 500 -4.9%, NASDAQ -5.8%, Nikkei +3.5%, SPI -5.7%.

 

Governments together with central banks are interested in keeping interest rates low for their indebted nations. With inflation staying above nominal interest rate or even rising due to medium-term supply chain issues, we could see a prolonged period of negative real interest rates.

 

Our outlook for the equity markets remains positive, as the feared Evergrande turmoil or the effects of the China policies will not completely disrupt the rising global economy. Furthermore, the downward trend in severe cases of the delta variant is encouraging, lockdowns ebb and pandemic measures are showing a positive effect. Risky assets remain the most favoured choice for now.

 

Portfolio commentary and activity

Our largest position Castle Alternative Invest (CASN) once again demonstrated its convincing portfolio composition with a YTD performance of +9.8%. In September, the company in liquidation informed market participants that the delisting process was well advanced and planned for the 2nd quarter 2022. Additionally, the notification indicated a first liquidity tranche distribution to shareholders, which is expected by the end of November 2021. CASN shares are currently still trading at a discount of 5% to its NAV. We keep accumulating this arbitrage position given the lucrative annualized return expectations.

 

Our second core position, IP Group, had a long-awaited corporate highlight: Its largest holding Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) had its IPO on the London Stock Exchange, making this event the first major biotech listing in the UK since 2014. IP Group has realized £84m from a partial sale of ONT shares and remains a significant shareholder with a 10.3% stake. Given the growing cash position and consistent with the IP Group’s capital allocation policy, £15m of the IPO realisation has been added to the previously announced £20m share buyback plan, making it a total of £35m that is now reserved for buybacks below the hard NAV.

 

Looking ahead, we see opportunities to actively engage trading shares of our core position, taking into account the NAV and the share price.

 

 

For further information, please contact Claudia Habermacher (Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein!) or visit our website www.alpine-select.ch.

 

 

About Alpine Select
Alpine Select Ltd is an investment company domiciled in Zug and has been listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange since 1998. The company offers shareholders the key benefit of investing into a global diversified and CHF hedged alternative investment portfolio. The portfolio exposure is actively being risk adjusted to current market sentiment and outlook. The investment style is value oriented and the investments are selected based on the company’s target return of 6-8% p.a. above CHF risk free rate. Alpine Select maintains an active and constructive dialogue with management and board of directors of its portfolio companies in the best interest of its shareholders. Alpine Select does not charge any management or performance fees.