Bellevue Entrepreneur Switzerland (CH)
Owner-operated or family-run companies think in generations, not in quarters
Solid balance sheets, high innovative strength and safety awareness have a positive effect on the share price
Companies impress with high ESG scores
Please find a more detailed description of share classes here.
Investment Focus
ISIN-No. CH0023244368
The Fund invests in listed owner-managed companies in Switzerland where an entrepreneur or a founder family holds at least a 20% of a company’s voting rights, thereby exerting significant influence. The Management Team pursues a fundamental, bottom-up approach in identifying the most attractive founder-controlled companies while maintaining an investment portfolio diversified by sector and style (Value, GARP, Growth).
Indexed performance (as at: 20.01.2022)
NAV: CHF 332.86 (19.01.2022)
Rolling performance (19.01.2022)
| A-CHF | Benchmark | |
| 19.01.2021 - 19.01.2022 | 14.15% | 17.52% |
| 19.01.2020 - 19.01.2021 | 20.90% | 2.88% |
| 19.01.2019 - 19.01.2020 | 23.02% | 26.02% |
| 19.01.2018 - 19.01.2019 | -16.71% | -3.19% |
Annualized performance (19.01.2022)
| A-CHF | Benchmark | |
| 1 year | 14.15% | 17.52% |
| 3 years | 18.74% | 14.62% |
| 5 years | 11.71% | 11.88% |
| 10 years | 12.82% | 10.98% |
| Since Inception p.a. | 8.29% | 6.13% |
Cumulative performance (19.01.2022)
| A-CHF | Benchmark | |
| 1M | -2.87% | -2.00% |
| YTD | -5.47% | -3.56% |
| 1 year | 14.15% | 17.52% |
| 3 years | 67.57% | 50.68% |
| 5 years | 74.05% | 75.31% |
| Since Inception | 252.19% | 156.21% |
Annual performance
| A-CHF | Benchmark | |
| 2021 | 26.24% | 23.38% |
| 2020 | 17.85% | 3.82% |
| 2019 | 29.74% | 30.59% |
| 2018 | -21.10% | -8.57% |
Facts & Key figures
Investment Focus
The Fund invests in listed owner-managed companies in Switzerland where an entrepreneur or a founder family holds at least a 20% of a company’s voting rights, thereby exerting significant control and influence. The typical qualities of these companies – a focused business model, fast decision-making processes, Show moreShow less
Investment suitability & Risk
Low risk
High risk
General Information
| Investment Manager | Bellevue Asset Management AG, Küsnacht |
| Custodian | RBC Investor Services Bank, Zürich |
| Fund Administrator | PMG Investment Solutions AG, Zug |
| Auditor | PWC |
| Launch date | 04.04.2006 |
| Year end closing | 31. Dec |
| Management Fee | 1.25% |
| Subscription Fee (max.) | 5.00% |
| ISIN number | CH0023244368 |
| Valor number | 2324436 |
| Bloomberg | SWENTEQ SW |
| Total expense ratio (TER) | 1.58% (31.12.2021) |
Legal Information
| Legal form | Swiss Fund |
Key data (31.12.2021, base currency CHF)
| Beta | 0.90 |
| Volatility | 16.00 |
| Tracking error | 7.96 |
| Active share | 76.54 |
| Correlation | 0.87 |
| Share ratio | 1.67 |
| Information ratio | 0.63 |
| Jensen's alpha | 8.02 |
| No. of positions | 47 |
Portfolio
Top 10 positions
Market capitalization
Breakdown by sector
Opportunities & Risks
Opportunities
- Owner and family-run businesses think in generations, not in quarters.
- Focus, a sense of responsibility, strong identification with the company, and personal financial commitment have a positive impact on the share price.
- More conservatively financed, lower debt exposure and a higher risk capacity compared to non-family businesses.
- Multi-award-winning management team with a long and successful track record investing in owner-run firms.
- Entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs – the Bellevue Group is itself an owner-run company with the majority of shares held by employees.
Risks
- The fund invests in equities. Equities are subject to price fluctuations and so are also exposed to the risk of price losses.
- Shares in smaller businesses are generally traded in lower volumes and are subject to bigger price fluctuations than larger enterprises.
- The fund may invest a proportion of its assets in financial instruments that might under certain circumstances have a relatively low level of liquidity, which can in turn affect the fund’s liquidity.
- Succession planning poses an additional risk for owner-run companies.
- The fund may engage in derivatives transactions. The increased opportunities gained come with an increased risk of losses.
Review / Outlook
Swiss equities, as measured by the SPI, rose 5.9% in December. Shrugging off the new COVID restrictions, equities recovered from the Omicron-led market correction of November, with the Swiss market outperforming both Europe and the US. With recent COVID data indicating a lower risk of severe illness, markets turned to the positive, with a scenario of gradual normalization into 2022, improving economics, low unemployment, robust consumer demand and a recovery of capex spending. In term of sectors, defensives outperformed with consumer staples (+7.6%), industrials (+7.2%) and healthcare (+6.8%) performing the most, with notable advances from the SPI-heavyweights Novartis (+9.3%), Nestlé (+8%) and Roche (+5.4%). Conversely, utilities (-4.1%), communication services (+1%) and consumer discretionary (+1.1%) lagged the most. Against this backdrop, the fund rose 4.3% in the month, underperforming its benchmark by 150 bps.
Top 3 contributors in the month were Vifor (+57.2%), Lindt & Sprüngli (+11.7%) and Daetwyler (+11.4%). Vifor jumped on the takeover offer by CLS with a 60% premium. In view of the company’s near-term challenges, we consider this a good and satisfactory exit. Lindt & Sprüngli rose along with a strong consumer staples sector, as well as expectations of a good Christmas business. Daetwyler announced the takeover of the Chinese healthcare packaging company Yantai Xinhui Packaging. This strategically important acquisition provides Daetwyler with an access to a high-margin business in the world’s largest and fastest-growing health market. In addition, the free capacity of the purchased plant and its neighboring land could be used for future local expansion.
Main detractors in the month were Zur Rose (-32.5%), Meyer Burger (-8.7%) and Valora (-1.5%). Zur Rose tumbled on the surprise announcement by the German Ministry of Health that the mandatory introduction for e-scripts set for January 1, 2022 will not apply. This is a clear overreaction in our view. The e-script is now a reality with most doctors and the project is not cancelled. From what we hear, the new deadline could be July 1st, 2022. On our calculation, a 12 months delay would reduce the fair value from CHF 500 to CHF 420, still offering plenty upside. Meyer Burger announced it was forced to temporarily operate only one of the two production lines at its Freiberg plant due to the high level of employee absence in relation to rising COVID-19 cases. This will reduce 2021 revenues only accordingly but will not impact the 2023 guidance while the planned capacity expansion remains on track. Valora suffered from reinstated home office restrictions and heightened 2G rules in Germany clearly reducing the footfall traffic assumptions in food service channels and train stations.
Top Swiss entrepreneur picks for the year 2021 were Swissquote and VAT (both 2nd year in a row), Kuehne & Nagel, VAT, Inficon, Sika, Straumann, Lindt & Sprüngli, Daetwyler and Sulzer. Some benefited from strong growth momentum, others rerated from what we deemed very undemanding valuation levels.
We remain constructive looking into 2022. The Swiss and European domestic economies are performing well and recent macro surprise indexes are trending upwards. With 4% consensus GDP growth for 2022, Europe should outgrow the US, also accommodating a much more benign inflation expectation. This should translate into solid earnings growth and above average equity returns. We are less worried about margins coming under pressure owing to rising costs as companies do manage to pass these on without much pushback when inflation is pro-cyclical i.e. based on rising demand. Also, the economic slack after COVID-19 should still provide companies with ample operating leverage and employment markets are much less tight.
In 2022 we want to continue to focus on affordable growth, value and quality, the latest being the namesake of our entrepreneur universe. Our stockpicking universe also boasts very strong balance sheets, giving these companies great means to deliver more shareholder value via growth, capex, R&D, M&A and dividends. Many thanks to all our investors and all the best to you for 2022!
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results and can be misleading. As the subfund is denominated in a currency that may differ than an investor’s base currency, changes in the rate of exchange may have an adverse effect on prices and incomes. Performance is shown net of fees and expenses for the relevant share class over the reference period. Show moreShow less
