Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG - Monthly Market Monitor June 2023 EN

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June

Monitor
Monthly Market
2023
Content The Back Page Asset classes 18 Macro Radar Taking the pulse of economic activity 6 Asset Allocation Notes from the Investment Committee 9 Agenda 19 In a Nutshell 4 Theme in Focus Cashing in, bigtime? When politicians trade on the stock market 12 Satellite View Geopolitical heat map 8 Ask the Experts Ask the experts – Questions stirring our clients (and the financial markets) 16 Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG | Monthly Market Monitor - June 2023 3

From a valuation perspective, stocks are less attractive today in both absolute and relative terms than they were a half-year ago.

Chart of the Month

In a Nutshell

Our view on the markets

Recession? Only regionally thus far Whereas Germany was unable to escape a technical recession in the end, the R-word presumably is unlikely to become an issue in the United States before 2024. However, the restrictive monetary policy then looks set to take a toll there as well because “higher for longer” continues to be the motto that central banks are following. A soft economic landing remains the much less probable alternative scenario, which is being kept alive by the recent acceleration in disinflation.

Everything AI

Artificial intelligence is the topic of the hour on equity markets these days, so the rally on (US) stock exchanges has accordingly been one-sided and limited to just a handful of companies. From a valuation perspective, stocks are less attractive today in both absolute and relative terms than they were a half-year ago. So, taking profits and positioning oneself a bit more defensively going forward are likely to pay off in the near future. Government bonds exhibit a good risk/reward tradeoff at the moment and will likely prove to be a valuable parachute for portfolios in the event of a substantial stock-market correction.

A difficult image makeover

China these days appears to be trying hard to burnish its image in the international community, but this probably won’t be easy to accomplish. At any rate, China’s peace initiative to end the war in Ukraine has thus far been more a marketing campaign than a gamechanger.

Cashing in, bigtime? When politicians trade on the stock market

Stock-market dealings by US politicians have repeatedly made headlines in recent years. Although congressional members have been barred from trading on non-public information since 2012, securities transactions fraught with conflicts of interests are still business as usual on Capitol Hill. New ETFs now enable investors to tap into the purported knowledge advantage in the Capitol. Is that a judicious strategy?

Ask the experts

Will the wave of bank failures come to an end soon? Why is the euro so weak against the Swiss franc despite higher interest rates in the Eurozone? Is private equity an artificially overvalued asset class? And is the second crypto winter already over? You’ll find our answers to these questions in our quarterly Q&A.

The US federal debt ceiling dominated political news coverage from Washington D.C. for weeks. As so often happens, a compromise was reached at the last minute. The Fiscal Responsibility Act significantly restricts spending for the next two years and suspends the debt ceiling until January 2025 (until after the next presidential election). A major victory for Joe Biden was the fact that much of his reform agenda, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, remains practically untouched. Although debt-ceiling showdowns have become a familiar routine by now, financial markets were tense in recent weeks, as one can see in the yield trajectory of very short-term US Treasury bills, which has now started to pull back as a sign of relief. Things could remain volatile, however, because the expected issuance of a lot of new government debt securities could drain liquidity from the financial system in the near future. Moreover, postponed does not mean resolved – the next act of the debt-ceiling drama awaits us in two years.

Déjà vu all over again | US federal bankruptcy averted once more Yields on US T-bills Sources: Bloomberg, Kaiser Partner Privatbank 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 01/02/2023 01/03/2023 01/04/2023 01/05/2023 30/05/23 01/06/23 06/06/23 15/06/23
Monthly Market Monitor - June 2023 | Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG 4
Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG | Monthly Market Monitor - June 2023 5

Macro Radar

Taking the pulse of economic activity

Whereas Germany was unable to escape a technical recession in the end, the R-word presumably is unlikely to become an issue in the United States before 2024, but the restrictive monetary policy then looks set to take a toll there as well. A soft economic landing remains the much less probable alternative scenario.

Technical recession in Germany

Even though a variety of early warning indicators continue to signal a looming recession in the USA, economic activity in America has held up robustly to date. Hot air is leaking out of the employment market only at a slow pace, and the window of opportunity for a successful soft economic landing hasn’t completely closed yet. However, we continue to see a relatively high probability of a (belated) recession next year. Meanwhile, the German growth engine sputtered more severely than initially supposed last quarter. The Federal Statistical Office of Germany was compelled to lower its original GDP growth estimate for the first quarter to –0.3% and thus verified that Germany’s economy was in a technical recession. Weak personal consumption expenditures were the main cause of the poor economic performance. Consumers have been in a more buoyant spending mood in Switzerland, where gross domestic product increased by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2023.

Inflation increasingly disinflationary

Supply chain bottlenecks have by now largely become an issue of the past. Not only is this evidenced by global shipping container freight rates, which have fallen by more than 85% since peaking in autumn 2021, but in addition, producer price inflation is sharply on the retreat and is even negative in some instances. Con-

sequently, ever fewer companies intend to raise their prices further in the future. These disinflationary tendencies are now also increasingly trickling through to consumer prices. Inflation in the Eurozone surprised in May by pulling back significantly from 7.0% to 6.1% (below the consensus forecast of 6.3%). This trend looks set to continue over the further course of this year.

Volatile interest-rate expectations

Despite the downward-pointed inflation trend, the path to the 2% inflation target is still a long road for both the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank. This means that at least two more interest-rate hikes particularly from the ECB are in the cards in June and July. However, they are likely to amount to only 25 basis points apiece because even the central bankers in Frankfurt recognize that the more restrictive monetary policy is already trickling through to the real economy and is prompting banks, for example, to tighten their lending policies. In the USA, meanwhile, a pause for now in raising interest rates further looks set to be on tap in June. The macroeconomic data in the weeks ahead will likely determine whether there will be another (final) rate hike afterwards. In any event, interest-rate expectations remain volatile – hopes of a speedy pivot to rate-cutting have diminished lately.

0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Back to go | Sea freight rates have returned to the pre-pandemic level Global container freight rate index Sources: Bloomberg, Kaiser Partner Privatbank Hot air is leaking out of the employment market only at a slow pace, and the window of opportunity for a successful soft economic landing hasn’t completely closed yet.
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Supply chain bottlenecks have by now largely become an issue of the past.

Kaiser Partner Privatbank interest rates view

Consensus estimates 2023 2024 2025 GDP growth (in %) Switzerland 0.6 1.5 1.7 Eurozone 0.6 1.0 1.7 UK 0.2 0.9 1.7 USA 1.1 0.8 2.0 China 5.6 5.0 4.8 Inflation (in %) Switzerland 2.5 1.5 1.4 Eurozone 5.6 2.5 2.0 UK 6.9 2.6 2.0 USA 4.1 2.6 2.4 China 1.8 2.3 2.2
Last 3M 12M Key interest rates (in %) Switzerland 1.50 ↗ ↗ Eurozone 3.25 ↗ ↗ UK 4.50 ↗ ↗ USA 5.25 ↗ ↗ China 2.75 → → 10-year yields (in %) Switzerland 0.89 → ↘ Eurozone 2.29 → ↘ UK 4.19 → ↘ USA 3.68 → ↘ China 2.70 → → Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG | Monthly Market Monitor - June 2023 7

In this context, Beijing’s current efforts should be interpreted as an attempt to get the image pendulum swinging back in the other direction.

Satellite View

Geopolitical heat map

China these days appears to be trying hard to burnish its image in the international community, but this probably won’t be easy to accomplish. At any rate, China’s peace initiative to end the war in Ukraine has thus far been more a marketing campaign than a gamechanger.

A difficult image makeover

China’s reputation in the world has continually worsened in recent years among industrialized and emerging-market countries alike. The country’s opaque information policy during the COVID-19 pandemic is only part of the reason why. The occasional intensely aggressive posturing by Chinese diplomats (an assertive style known as “wolf warrior diplomacy”) also hasn’t won the Middle Kingdom any friends. The fact that China’s New Silk Road is burdening more and more developing countries with crushing debt instead of reaping them economic benefits from the infrastructure projects is another negative fleck on the long list of image blemishes. In this context, Beijing’s current efforts should be interpreted as an attempt to get the image pendulum swinging back in the other direction. China would like to patch up its foreign relations as a counterpoint to the country’s domestic policy challenges and its strategic rivalry with the USA. Beijing chalked up a first achievement in March in its role as a mediator between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and that culminated in a successful deal that eventually could lead to a normalization of relations between the two Middle Eastern countries. Another example was Xi Jinping’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in April.

Not a gamechanger

That phone conversation was about China’s 12-point peace plan. It, however, is unlikely to gain much traction beyond its intended signaling effect because it, for instance, does not call on Russia to withdraw from annexed regions. China’s initiative is unlikely to have direct relevance anyway because the focus in the weeks ahead will instead be on Ukraine’s long-awaited military counteroffensive. If Ukraine does not succeed in recapturing significant territory during the further course of this year, only then would the resulting stalemate perhaps make it necessary to negotiate a ceasefire. In a failed counteroffensive scenario, an armistice could become realistic by as soon as November – it would reduce the risk of an escalation and would accordingly be beneficial for the financial markets. If Ukraine, however, fights as well as it did during last year’s offensive, it could retake substantial territory. In this (more probable) scenario, risk premiums on equity markets could briefly flare up again in summer or autumn. At present, the financial market seems to us to be a little too complacent about the potential tail risks that could materialize as a consequence of an unconventional reaction by Russia to defeats on the battlefield.

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Asset Allocation

Notes from the Investment Committee

Artificial intelligence is the topic of the hour on equity markets these days, so the rally on (US) stock exchanges has accordingly been one-sided and limited to just a handful of companies. From a valuation perspective, stocks are less attractive today in both absolute and relative terms than they were a half-year ago. So, taking profits and positioning oneself a bit more defensively going forward are likely to pay off in the near future.

Asset Allocation Monitor

Cash Equities

Fixed Income

Sovereign bonds

Corporate bonds

Microfinance

Inflation-linked bonds

High-yield bonds Japan

Emerging-market bonds

Insurance-linked bonds

Alternative Assets

Convertible bonds Gold

Duration

Currencies

US dollar

Swiss franc

Euro

British pound

Equities: AI – bubble or no bubble?

• The major equity markets edged down slightly (in Europe) or treaded in place (in the USA) in May. The exception to the rule was US technology stocks, which gained more than 7% for the month, as measured by the Nasdaq 100 index. The following numbers paint an even more striking picture of the narrow market breadth: while the top ten stocks in the S&P 500 index rose by a combined 8.9% last month, the other 490 stocks in the blue-chip index fell by a combined 4.3%. Stocks associated with AI were practically the only ones that benefited in May. Meanwhile, a growing number of voices are already talking about an artificial intelligence bubble. Closer observation, though, reveals that the valuations of technology stocks associated with AI are still much lower today than valuations were in the days of the 2000/2001 internet bubble. We therefore do not see any potential for a crash at the moment. However, some air looks set to escape soon from some overheated stocks, so investors should at least do some profit-taking.

• Valuations across the broad market have also risen in the wake of the vibrant equity upsurge since au-

Real estate

Hedge funds

Structured products

Private equity

Private credit

05/2023

Scorecard - +

Macro

Monetary/fiscal policy

Corporate earnings

Valuation

Trend

Investor sentiment

tumn 2022. The US market in particular is no longer cheap in absolute terms. European stocks are relatively less expensive, but have likewise experienced a strong rally and have since priced in a lot of pro arguments. The risk/reward tradeoff is now much less attractive compared to the situation a half-year ago. We therefore recommend a more defensive bias in equity portfolios. There is potential for disappointment in the near future. For instance, it remains to be seen whether companies can match or better their good first-quarter earnings figures in the second quarter. Besides that, the US Federal Reserve could disappoint market expectations of imminent interest-rate cuts.

Closer observation, though, reveals that the valuations of technology stocks associated with AI are still much lower today than valuations were in the days of the 2000/2001 internet bubble.

- + - +
Global
Switzerland
Europe
UK
USA
Emerging markets
Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG | Monthly Market Monitor - June 2023 9

The Nikkei index surged in May to its highest level since 1990.

• We see somewhat better prospects for the Japanese stock market, which has recently been rediscovered by international investors and ranks among the frontrunners year-to-date both in local currency and even after the weaker yen is factored in. The Nikkei index surged in May to its highest level since 1990. Structural factors (the end of deflation, companies’ increasing focus on shareholder value, an undervalued currency, low political risk) look set to facilitate a continued outperformance in the medium term.

Fixed income: Asymmetrical risk profile in the government bond space

Alternative assets: Gold has not broken out (yet)

However, in the event of a recession and an attendant anticipated yield pullback to below 2.5%, one could expect to earn a profit well in double-digit territory.

• Money-market funds have also enjoyed immense popularity in recent weeks. Since conditions have become much more attractive, and in view of the unignorable latent risk of a recession in the USA, cash-like assets remain a sound investment alternative or at least a good “parking option” for investment money that isn’t allocated elsewhere for the short term. But given a potential further slowing of US economic activity, (US) government bonds also look very interesting at the moment because their risk profile is extremely asymmetrical. Proceeding from a 10-year US Treasury yield of 3.8% at last look, an (improbable) increase in the yield level to a new cycle high of 4.3% on a 12-month horizon would lead to a loss of “only” 1%. However, in the event of a recession and an attendant anticipated yield pullback to below 2.5%, one could expect to earn a profit well in double-digit territory. In view of these attractive parachute properties, which should at least stabilize a mixed asset portfolio in an adverse macroeconomic scenario, we recommend overweighting government bonds and targeting a longer-than-average duration. Meanwhile, given the increased yield levels and higher credit spreads, we now see a better risk profile also for high-yield bonds as well as an extended buffer in the event of an adverse scenario. However, it is still too soon for a broad entry into this asset class.

• The price of gold didn’t benefit in May from the US federal debt ceiling showdown. On the contrary, its attempt to lastingly surpass its all-time high at around USD 2,075 per ounce failed as a result of a briefly reinvigorated US dollar and an uptick in bond yields. The robust demand for the yellow precious metal on the part of (emerging-market) central banks is not enough as a sole driver to propel a technical upward breakout on gold’s price chart. Since no other catalyst is in sight in the near term, continued rangebound movement around the current price level seems the most plausible scenario. Sources of impetus are also absent in the cryptocurrency space. Bitcoin and the like have not been infected by AI hype – the performance correlation with US technology stocks has been low lately. A Bitcoin price above USD 31,000 would be what’s needed to spring the cryptocurrency free.

Currencies: The force of gravity is working on the EUR/CHF cross

• EUR/USD: Macroeconomic data in recent weeks have come in stronger in the USA than in the Eurozone. This is also reflected in economic surprise indices, which lately have turned out clearly in favor of the US dollar. The EUR/USD exchange rate followed this cue and corrected by 3 cents in May to 1.07. Now that the European Central Bank has recently exhibited a bit more caution with regard to the pace of further rate-hiking, the single currency lacks a springboard of interest-rate speculation from which to launch a successful run at a new year-to-date high. The EUR/USD cross looks set to tread sideways for the time being.

• GBP/USD: The British pound, in contrast, is currently riding a tailwind emanating from the interest-rate component. Compared to other industrialized nations, the UK has the least deflationary impetus and the greatest need for higher interest rates. The Bank of England’s terminal interest-rate level could end up exceeding the US Federal Reserve’s peak policy rate. Historically, such a setup wouldn’t be unusual and could induce a revaluation of the still “inexpensive” pound.

• EUR/CHF: The Swiss franc has slowly but steadily appreciated against the euro in recent weeks – gravity in the form of superior fundamentals and lower inflation has been exerting its force. The Swiss National Bank looks set to reclose the interest-rate gap to the Eurozone somewhat with another big rate hike in June. Looking ahead to the second half of this year, we see the EUR/CHF exchange rate moving in rangebound fashion between 95 centimes and parity.

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The (market capitalization-weighted) S&P 500 index was up around 10% year-to-date at the end of May, but this solid performance hides substantial discrepancies. To wit, the gain owes almost exclusively to around a dozen big technology stocks. This becomes evident when looking at the equally weighted S&P 500, which exhibits only a marginal gain since the start of this year. The hype around artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential disrupting effects on the world of work and society at large has particularly sent the technology sector soaring lately, especially benefiting the semiconductor chip industry –chipmaker Nvidia by now has joined the club of companies with a market cap of more than USD 1 trillion. Is the rally built on sand? We see a certain degree of exaggeration in the near term that will correct to some extent. In the medium term, however, Big Tech will continue to dominate the market action in the USA.

Chart in the Spotlight

“Big” and “tech” | Market breadth leaves much to be desired Comparison of US stock indices

Sources: Bloomberg, Kaiser Partner Privatbank 95 100 105 110 115 120 125 130 135 01/02/2023 01/03/2023 01/04/2023 01/05/2023 01/06/2023 S&P 500 market cap-weighted S&P 500 equal-we ghted Nasdaq 100 01/01/2023 Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG | Monthly Market Monitor - June 2023 11

Theme in Focus

Cashing in, bigtime? When politicians trade on the stock market

Stock-market dealings by US politicians have repeatedly made headlines in recent years. Although congressional members have been barred from trading on non-public information since 2012, securities transactions fraught with conflicts of interests are still business as usual on Capitol Hill. New ETFs now enable investors to tap into the purported knowledge advantage in the Capitol. Is that a judicious strategy?

Clear rules…

There are clear rules governing insider trading: stock trades based on non-public information that could influence a share price (e.g. non-public information about new products, litigation, or mergers and acquisitions) are strictly prohibited. There are also additional stringent transparency regulations for corporate insiders. CEOs in the USA, for example, must report their personal trading in equity shares or stock options in the respective companies they run to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) within two days, and such trading is completely prohibited during designated blackout periods (e.g. prior to the release of quarterly earnings reports). Many companies voluntarily self-impose even stricter regulations and make employees’ personal trading contingent on prior approval by the compliance department or the supervisory board. Comparable disclosure obligations exist in Europe as well. Corporate executives in Switzerland must report

their personal trading in their companies’ own shares to the SIX Swiss Exchange within two days, and in Germany C-suite executives have three days to report to the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).

…but apparently not for everyone US congressional members, too, have been barred from engaging in insider trading since 2012. The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act additionally requires members of Congress to disclose any securities trades within 45 days of the transaction. However, this hasn’t deterred some politicians from trading. Roughly one in four congressional members regularly trades securities, according to the Unusual Whales platform, which keeps a tab on trading action on Capitol Hill. Some “star traders” even seem to concern themselves more with Wall Street than Main Street. House Democrat Ro Khanna, for instance, made 5,800 individual stock-exchange transactions last year

Sources: Bloomberg, Kaiser Partner Privatbank

23 24 25 26 27 KRUZ NANC 06/02/2023 06/03/2023 06/04/2023 06/05/2023
Blue leading red | Solid start for Democrats’ favorites NANC ETF and KRUZ ETF
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Roughly one in four congressional members regularly trades securities.

for a total trading volume of USD 151 million. House Republican Michael McCaul made a whopping USD 180 million worth of trades in 2022. Some Congress members, though, don’t take the existing rules all that seriously. Instances of congressional members disclosing their trading activity incompletely, far too late, or not at all arise again and again. However, the paltry USD 200 fine for violations really isn’t much of a deterrent, and it is rarely enforced by the Senate and House ethics committees.

Institutionalized corruption?

It’s only natural in Washington D.C. that confidential information is almost constantly in circulation in conversation with interest-group spokespersons and lobbyists, for example, or during the legislative process. The temptation to use this knowledge to one’s own advantage appears to be too strong for some representatives of the people to resist. Most of those who engage in stock-market transactions fraught with conflicts of interests fly below the public’s radar. Disclosure requirements have done little to change that thus far. But there is always a big public outcry and a thunderstorm of headlines in the media whenever the alleged self-enrichment is devoid of even a modicum of ethics.

North Carolina Senator Richard Burr, for example, came under scathing criticism in 2020 when he, in his position as the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, sold USD 1.7 million worth of personal stock holdings shortly after having received a private briefing on the dangers of the novel coronavirus. Similar irregularities occurred shortly before the outbreak of the armed conflict in Ukraine, when more than a dozen Congress members’ preternatural purchases of shares in arms manufacturers and oil companies drew public attention. The New York Times last year exposed just how widespread the self-enrichment mentality really

is among US politicians. The Gray Lady reported that during the years 2019 through 2021, more than half of all Congress members active on the equity market engaged in stock trades involving conflicts of interests. The New York Times found fault with a total of 3,700 trades by 97 congressional members. Political initiatives aimed at tightening the existing rules get launched time and again – by both parties. One proposal, for example, envisages requiring congressional members to hold stocks, bonds, and other securities in a blind trust, i.e. in a portfolio over which an independent trustee has full discretionary control. A bipartisan congressional group recently even called for a total ban on trading. But it remains to be seen whether Democrats and Republicans will actually pull together in the end to deprive themselves of this lucrative source of income.

More than a Midas touch

Data attest that trading with a certain knowledge advantage is indeed downright profitable for more than a few congressional members, or at least it was over the last two years. The analysis by Unusual Whales of all US Congress members’ disclosed trades executed last year reveals that the legislators significantly outperformed the US stock market. Whereas the S&P 500 index shed a good 18% of its value in 2022, actively trading Republicans posted a gain of 0.4% while Democrats settled for a small loss of just 1.8%. In 2021 as well, which was a good stock-market year that saw the S&P 500 register a double-digit percent gain, politicians beat the market slightly with an extra return of 1.2 percentage points. The evidence, however, is ambiguous. A study by Dartmouth College of a much longer period from 2012 through 2020 came to the conclusion that stocks purchased by congressional members do not out- or underperform other stocks on average. It can’t be definitively determined how good stock-market instincts

Political initiatives aimed at tightening the existing rules get launched time and again – by both parties.

Data attest that trading with a certain knowledge advantage is indeed downright profitable for more than a few congressional members, or at least it was over the last two years.

ALPHABET Communica on Services SALESFORCE Technology AMAZON Consumer Discre onary APPLE Technology MICROSOFT Technology NVIDIA Technology DISNEY Communica on Services CROWDSTRIKE Technology PHILIP MORRIS Consumer Staples UNITED PARCEL SERVICE Industrials 5.72% 5.30% 4.99% 4.97% 4.86% 4.29% 2.22% 1.09% 0.97% 0.82% Posi on size Company Sector Regards to Silicon Valley | Democrats are betting
Big Tech Top 10 stocks in NANC ETF
on
Sources: Subversive ETFs, Kaiser Partner Privatbank
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are on Capitol Hill, in part because any calculations must have a big disclaimer attached to them and must be taken with a grain of salt. This means that all performance figures can only be rough estimates at best because the disclosure requirements stipulated by the STOCK Act as they currently stand lack the necessary depth of information. Neither the precise trading volume (only a vague dollar range instead) nor the itemized purchases and sales involved or the outcome (profit or loss) have to be disclosed in detail at present.

Copycat ETFs: Not advisable to mimic Nevertheless, politicians’ stock-market transactions are very popularly viewed as a guidepost for spotting potentially fishy but at the same time lucrative trades. Meanwhile, there is now even a dedicated Instagram channel that continually tracks such transactions. The Unusual Whales platform, however, has gone a step farther and has teamed up with the asset management firm Subversive Capital Advisor to launch two ETFs that claim to replicate the securities positions of Democrats (ticker symbol: NANC) and Republicans (KRUZ). Not surprisingly, the “blue” ETF

is on the tech-heavy side while the “red” ETF contains energy companies, but also gambling-industry stocks. With only around a three-month track record, these products’ performance history is not meaningfully informative yet. But it’s questionable anyway whether they will be able to beat the broad market in the future on the back of their purported inherent information advantage. That’s because the disclosure requirements thus far are very fuzzy, as described above. Moreover, the long deadline of up to 45 days by which stock-market transactions have to be publicly disclosed is particularly problematic because during that time frame, any information advantage will likely have already fizzled out and gotten priced in on the market. Retail investors would be well advised to view these new “insider strategies” merely as an amusement and to watch them from the sidelines because it generally is unwise to maneuver in the slipstream of other investors with different financial goals, time horizons, and risk parameters. Instead, every investor should pursue a strategy custom-tailored to his or her personal needs and restrictions and should stick with that strategy for the long run.

Energy MAGELLAN MIDSTREAM PARTNERS Energy ENERGY TRANSFER Energy PHILIP MORRIS Consumer Staples DOW Materials SHELL Energy ACCENTURE Technology OWL ROCK CAPITAL Financials ELEVANCE HEALTH Healthcare INTEL Technology 3.88% 3.73% 1.67% 1.63% 1.62% 1.61% 1.60% 1.51% 1.48% 1.48% Posi on size Company Sector
ENTERPRISE PRODUCTS PARTNERS
Regards to Texas | Republicans are betting on Big Oil Top 10 stocks in KRUZ ETF Sources: Subversive ETFs, Kaiser Partner Privatbank
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Retail investors would be well advised to view these new “insider strategies” merely as an amusement.
Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG | Monthly Market Monitor - June 2023 15

Some sub-strategies posted significantly stronger (secondaries) or weaker (venture capital) performances, but on the whole the private equity asset class outperformed public markets by a wide margin.

Ask the Experts

Questions stirring our clients (and the financial markets)

We are always available to our customers for concerns and questions about their portfolios. As a representative of this, once a quarter we summarize the most frequently asked customer questions and the answers provided by our experts, thus giving you direct insights into our asset management and investment advisory services.

Private equity: Private equity strategies significantly outperformed public stock markets last year. Is that justified, or are valuations in the private equity asset class “artificial” and detached from reality?

Kaiser Partner Privatbank: While the MSCI World index ended 2022 down a good 18% for the year in the final reckoning, private equity strategies exhibited relative strength. Although their definitive performance figures for last year aren’t out yet and will first become available in the weeks ahead, preliminary indications (taken, for example, from the annual reports of publicly traded private equity firms) give reason to expect that the broad private equity sector closed out 2022 with a low-single-digit percent loss for the year. Some sub-strategies posted significantly stronger (secondaries) or weaker (venture capital) performances, but on the whole the private equity asset class outperformed public markets by a wide margin. A look at the fundamentals verifies that this outperformance is solidly underpinned. Privately held companies grow much faster than publicly traded corporations in the long run. Their revenue-growth advantage has averaged out to approximately 4 percentage points per annum over the last

20 years. Another factor is operational improvements, which generally lead to a (substantial) boosting of profit margins. Even amid the especially tough climate that prevailed in 2022, companies owned by private equity firms achieved a better business performance on aggregate than publicly traded corporations did. According to data from Hamilton Lane, their revenue grew by 11% year-on-year for the first three quarters of 2022 (compared to 8% for publicly traded companies) and their EBITDA increased by 6% (3%). The disproportionately large drawdowns on public stock markets have now reduced their overvaluation relative to private equity and has brought valuations on public and private markets more in line with each other. Privately held companies are more expensively valued, though, only in rare cases. The most compelling proof that the valuations and the superior performance figures don’t owe to window dressing by private equity managers comes from the deal and exit prices actually realized. Even in the challenging year 2022, private equity funds were generally able to sell their portfolio companies at prices above their book value as of the last prior valuation date. The exit premium on average amounted to more than 20% above the valuation four quarters prior to the sale. This confirms that private equity managers tend to value their portfolios conservatively and that the valuations relatively closely reflect reality.

25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0 4 quarters prior to exit 3 quarters prior to exit 2 quarters prior to exit 1 quarter prior to exit Fact or fiction?
Realized exit premium upon sale (compared to last valuation)
| Private equity managers tend to be conservative Sources: Hamilton Lane, Kaiser Partner Privatbank
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The Back Page Asset

classes & agenda

Performance as of 31 May 2023 Asset class YTD 1 Month 1 Year 3 Years Cash CHF 0.1% 0.7% -0.7% EUR 0.3% 1.9% 0.8% USD 0.5% 4.1% 4.7% Fixed Income Sovereign bonds -0.6% -3.2% -12.0% Corporate bonds -1.9% -2.3% -8.9% Microfinance 0.4% 3.2% 8.5% Inflation-linked bonds -1.7% -7.5% -7.6% High-yield bonds -1.2% -0.7% 6.0% Emerging-market bonds -0.8% -2.2% -8.7% Insurance-linked bonds 1.6% 5.8% 16.5% Convertible bonds -0.4% -0.5% 20.3% Equities Global -0.2% 3.2% 39.3% Switzerland -2.0% -2.1% 17.6% Europe -2.5% 8.5% 40.7% UK -5.2% 1.3% 39.0% USA 0.6% 2.3% 40.5% Emerging markets -1.9% -11.1% 3.0% Alternative assets Commodities 6.1% -25.4% 54.2% Gold -1.4% 6.8% 13.4% Real estate Switzerland 0.4% -4.8% 4.5% Hedge funds -0.3% -1.1% 8.9% Currencies EUR/USD -3.0% 0.4% -3.7% EUR/CHF -1.2% -5.5% -8.8% GBP/USD -1.0% -1.3% 0.8%
0.5% 1.3% 2.1% 0 2.4% 2.7% 1.8% 1.2% 3.2% 1.6% 8.6% 3.4% 0 8.9% 6.9% 11.1% 1.3% 9.6% 0.2% 0 -13.2% 7.6% 1.6% 0.0% 0 -0.1% 1.6% 3.0% 7.6% Monthly Market Monitor - June 2023 | Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG 18

On our Agenda

• June 14: US Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting

After having raised its policy rate by a total of 500 basis points in a span of just a little less than 14 months, the Fed might take a break from hiking interest rates further in June – the peak federal funds rate possibly has already been reached. However, it’s another story whether the Fed will now revert to cutting interest rates as swiftly as the markets expect it to. The state of economic activity arguably would first have to deteriorate more to prompt the Fed to lower rates.

• June 16: World Refill Day

This global day of action aims to serve as a reminder that we all can live with less waste and can play a part in preventing plastic pollution. The solution? A refill and reuse revolution to steer our environment, oceans, cities, and communities toward a plastic-free(r) future.

• July 1: Three years of Monthly Market Monitor

Our monthly publication is already celebrating its third anniversary – 36 issues filled with our insightful looks at the economy, geopolitics, financial markets, investment strategy, and sustainability have found their way to our subscribers’ inboxes and are now history. If you haven’t yet joined our newsletter mailing list, we welcome you to sign up today.

Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG | Monthly Market Monitor - June 2023 19
Monthly Market Monitor - June 2023 | Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG 20
Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG | Monthly Market Monitor - June 2023 21

This document constitutes neither a financial analysis nor an advertisement. It is intended solely for informational purposes. None of the information contained herein constitutes a solicitation or recommendation by Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG to purchase or sell a financial instrument or to take any other actions regarding any financial instruments. Furthermore, the information contained herein does not constitute investment advice. Any references in this document to past performance are no guarantee of a positive future performance. Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG assumes no liability for the completeness, correctness or currentness of the information contained herein or for any losses or damages arising from any actions taken on the basis of the information in this document. All contents of this document are protected by intellectual property law, particularly by copyright law. The reprinting or reproduction of all or any parts of this document in any way or form for public or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited unless prior written consent has been explicitly granted by Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG.

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E: bank@kaiserpartner.com

Editorial Team: Oliver Hackel, Senior Investment Strategist

Roman Pfranger, Head Private Banking & Investment Solutions

Design & Print: 21iLAB AG, Vaduz, Liechtenstein

Monthly Market Monitor - June 2023 | Kaiser Partner Privatbank AG 22
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