What an exceptional first quarter it was. Most European indices increased by double digit figures spurred by the ECB’s stimulus program, which is driving down the value of the Euro and making European companies more competitive globally. The STOXX 600 is now 16% higher compared to the start of the year. Our European portfolio showed a positive alpha of 5.7, finishing the quarter with a gain of 21...[more]

A few weeks ago we took some important steps to improve our database. We switched from the Thomson Reuters Business Classification scheme (TRBC) to the Global Industry Classification scheme (GICS). While this change required a significant effort to adjust all screeners, it increased the number of stocks from 22.700 to just over 24...[more]

The STOXX 600 moved up from a gain of 8,7% in January to 14,5%. Our portfolio performed even better in February and showed a gain of 19,7%, an increase of 1030 basis points compared to the previous month. This is one of the best starts of the year since we started this portfolio 5 years ago. This growth was supported by a majority of holdings with a few stars sticking out. The North American portfolio showed a smaller return of 4,2%, but this still beats the S&P, which stands at 2,2%...[more]

The European markets got off to a very strong start in 2015. On the 22nd of January, the ECB announced that it’s bringing out the big guns to reverse the continent’s slide into economic stagnation. From March 2015 onwards, it will will buy €60 billion of assets - including government, institutional and private sector bonds - and will do so until at least September 2016. With these extreme measures it hopes to get the eurozone growing again and increase inflation - which is currently negative - to its target of 2%.

This decision had a significantly positive impact on the European stock markets, with the STOXX600 increasing 8...[more]