Citing unidentified people inside the 2 banks, Inside Paradeplatz, an online finance newspaper, is speculating that the chairman of UBS & Credit Suisse are exploring a potential merger, nicknamed Signal, to create one of Europe’s largest banks. The rumour, emerged mid-September and I’ve been asked the whys & hows, the validity of such a plan, etc. Before I give you my present take on this, I should like you to look at my past take on this when I wrote the following 7 years ago, based on the news at that time.

Warren Buffett and his partner Charlie Munger have been criticized recently. Value investments, their credo, reached an epic level of underperformance versus the index and especially in growth stocks, the so-called GAFA. Now let me remind you that “it wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark. And he didn’t look that smart for 39 days.”

We are now 6 months into COVID-19 and during this hot summer lull, I thought it might be time to step back a bit, take stock and reconnect with our “seeking wisdom” series.  These are unprecedented times, where we do need to avoid certain behaviours, risks, attitudes, etc.  So why not approach things in an unprecedented fashion and think things backwards. “A lot of success in life and success in business comes from knowing what you really want to avoid – like early death and a bad marriage”, said Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s partner and Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway.

We certainly live in interesting times, but sometimes I wish, like a wise oriental man once said, to be spared of that fate, and that I could live in uninteresting times. Well, enough talk, let’s walk, I told myself. Amid COVID-19, why not walk through Switzerland. And that’s what I did and after 2 weeks, I arrived at the village of St Gallenkappel, where the most innovative toilet manufacturer originated.

Like most of us, I have just spent one of the most singular months of April that I can remember. “Comparaison n’est pas raison”, but let’s wind back a few centuries to see what we can learn from history!

We are now in the eye of the storm. Whenever & wherever you switch on, you only hear about the “elephant in the room”. We are where it feels the most unpleasant and/or unwise to own any equities, or any financial assets, as a matter of fact. The only good news that I can serve is: It won’t last forever.

In investment, as in other endeavours in life, it is a good idea, when in stress situations, to pause & think. In light of recent developments, namely the spread of COVID-19, the US primaries and a panicky Mr. Market, one is naturally tempted to cling to the latest piece of information, as if this will disclose some eternal truth.

For the past 2 weeks, the financial markets have been feeling the effects of COVID-19. Are they really ill?

During the 12th anniversary of the launch of our Swiss equities strategy, the CFO of Calida Group, one of the Fund's holdings, presented company's strategy and how it is adapting to the rapidly evolving clothing industry.

Long-term, Mr. Market is a compounder, short-term he is often a disruptor. Pierre Cloux discusses Swiss equities performance in 2019 and what we may expect in the year to come.