Just as Italy got the go-ahead from the European Commission for its 2015 Stability Plan, we interviewed Massimo Trabattoni, manager of the Kairos International Sicav Italia Fund, about the Italian scenario.
“Italy is very interesting right now, mainly for a handful of macroeconomic reasons. First, the Euro is weak, which helps exports, and second, the price of oil is low, and we are big oil importers, partly because of our manufacturing-based economy. In addition to this, the combination of low interest rates and quantitative easing highlights the need to resume growing inflation”. Another contributing factor has been the activism of institutions, especially with certain, particularly heartfelt reforms – take labor reform for instance. In this way, Trabattoni paints a rosy picture marked by confidence, at least until after the summer.
However, the Kairos manager believes that one of the big themes remains how to lure the considerable available liquidity out of the sphere of finance and into the real economy. “Indices are often not indicative of the latter, so while a healthy dose of optimism is certainly a good thing, on the other hand, we must carefully watch individual stocks and check that each position is sound”.
In this scenario, a flexible product like KIS Italia can help investors make the most of the current trend, but without losing sight of the numbers. “Indeed, by the end of the year, the market will demand evidence of this value,” clarifies Trabattoni, who has always specialized specifically in Italian equities. And the results have rewarded our strategies: KIS Italia has posted +9.85% since the start of the year* and +47.82% since inception (June 28, 2013), with annualized monthly volatility of 10.55%.
*Data at February 26, 2015 (Class P)