Bellevue Entrepreneur Swiss Small & Mid

Swiss SMID caps, as measured by the SPIEX Index, were flat in August. The meeting between Trump and Putin, followed by a Washington summit with Zelensky and European leaders, raised expectations of renewed dialogue on a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire. Fed Chair Powell’s remarks at the Jackson Hole Symposium suggested a potential September rate cut amid early signs of a softening labor market. The eurozone’s Composite PMI remained robust at 51.1, supported by a third consecutive expansion in services (50.7) and a rebound in manufacturing (50.7). In Switzerland, the procure.ch Manufacturing PMI rose slightly to 49.0 in August, suggesting that high tariffs on Swiss exports and other global developments have had little effect so far on overall business confidence. The Swiss CPI fell by 0.1% to 107.7, and annual inflation was +0.2%, according to the Federal Statistical Office. From a sector perspective, communication services (+8.4%), consumer discretionary (+2.7%), and financials (+2.5%) performed best, while utilities (–7.2%), information technology (–3.7%), and materials (–3.4%) lagged the most.
A Against this backdrop, the fund rose 0.5%, 55 bps better than the SPIEX benchmark. The fund has returned 16.5% ytd, 342 bps above the benchmark.
The main detractors for the month were Montana Aerospace (–10.9%), Medmix (–10.2%), and Accelleron (–7.5%). Montana Aerospace suffered some profit-taking despite solid Q2 figures. Revenues for aerostructures were a little shy of consensus, but EBIT rose 24% yoy, with margins up 140 bps, reflecting disciplined efficiency management. The company reiterated its guidance for 2025 and 2026. Medmix reported weaker-than-expected H1 results, with a 10% revenue decline in consumer and industrial offsetting both the 8% growth in healthcare and the benefits of self-help measures. Management downgraded full-year guidance to MSD revenue decline, while maintaining an 18%–19% adjusted EBITDA margin. Longer term, the company reiterated targets of around 4% revenue growth and EBITDA margins above 20%. Accelleron had pre-released H1 sales figures on July 15 and massively raised guidance for 2025. H1 EBITA ultimately came in a tad above consensus, with margins reaching 25.5%. The company lowered FY 2025 margin guidance by 1% to 24%–25% because of the negative effect of tariffs, causing some profit-taking after a ytd return of 53%.

The top three contributors were u-blox (+53.3%), Huber+Suhner (+30.5%), and Compagnie Financière Tradition (+25.8%). u-blox was subject to a takeover offer from the US private equity fund Advent at CHF 135 per share, a premium of 32% on the 60-day average share price. While we note that the acceptance threshold is 66.7%, u-blox has a highly fragmented shareholder structure, and Advent has so far only secured the commitment of u-blox’s largest individual shareholder, SEO Master Fund LP. Ahead of the formal offer period, which will run until October 9, u-blox’s share price is trading slightly ahead of the offer price. Huber+Suhner published H1 results marked by the resilience of its order intake. In the company’s Communication division, the very dynamic Data Center segment managed to mostly offset the end of a large Indian contract recorded in 2024. These encouraging numbers came a few days after Huber+Suhner announced a significant order for Polatis optical circuit switches from a global hyperscaler, a milestone for its strategic DC growth initiative. Compagnie Financière Tradition delivered a strong operating performance, with H1 operating income growing by 30%, increasing margin to 16.4%. Revenues had been pre-released and rose 11% on a currency-adjusted basis. We particularly appreciate Compagnie Financière Tradition’s business model in the current environment, as its inter-dealer broker arm, Tradition, actually benefits from increased volatility and market uncertainty.

Fundamentally, Swiss SMID caps are a great contribution to every portfolio. Often active in attractive niches where they command high market shares and a strong competitive position, they develop high-quality products and services. Always turned outward and often truly global, they are indeed entrepreneurs, taking their destinies in their own hands and seeking solutions independently whatever the economic or political environment. This is why in the Bellevue Entrepreneur Europe Small (LUX) Fund, Swiss companies account for 15% of our stock picks and are the second-largest contributor to our ytd outperformance. From a cyclical point of view, in Europe, short-term trends are finally displaying signs of a revival. The eurozone’s Manufacturing PMI rose by 0.9 to 50.7 in August, the first expansion reading since June 2022, driven by an improvement in domestic demand. A pick-up in Europe will also benefit Switzerland and its industrial base, despite the uncertainty surrounding US tariffs.