Quality Focus September 2026 En
Kavaljer Quality Focus September 2026 - New Investment in VBG Group and a Brighter Outlook for Industrial Suppliers
Kavaljer Quality Focus fell 0.9% in September, compared with -1.6% for the Stockholm exchange and -1.3% for the small-cap index. The largest positive contributors during the month were Storytel, ITAB and Bravida, while Xvivo, RevolutionRace and Huhtamäki contributed most negatively.
A Step Back Caused by High Oil Prices
September was a somewhat weak stock market month. Continued turmoil in the Strait of Hormuz has pushed up oil prices, which has raised inflation expectations and global interest rate levels. Interest-rate-sensitive sectors such as financials and real estate, as well as highly valued growth companies, took the biggest hit, while energy-related stocks held up best.
At the same time, there are increasingly many signs that the industrial cycle is improving. Order intake rose in the second quarter for several industrial companies, and September data points in the same direction. In Sweden, conditions are improving both in industry and among households, where confidence is the highest since December 2021. Just over 40% of the fund's portfolio is invested in industrial suppliers - high-quality companies with underutilized factories and squeezed profitability, where a recovery in volumes should bring both revenue growth and operating leverage.
During the month the fund sold its holding in Vitec and reduced its positions in Storytel, Proact, Bravida, Pandora, Brdr. A&O Johansen, Carasent, BTS and Huhtamäki. We bought back an old favorite, VBG Group, and increased our positions in Nederman and ITAB.
The equity allocation at the end of the month was 98%.
In-Depth Look at the Fund's Holdings
In this month's in-depth section we go through why we judge the AI threat to Exsitec to be overstated: only around 10% of working time is spent on coding, and lower project costs may in fact increase demand rather than reduce it. We also describe the buy-back of VBG Group, where the large facility investment in MTS is completed this year and is expected to bring cost savings from Q1 next year, with full effect in 2027. Finally, we look at ChemoMetec, the market leader in cell counting for cell and gene therapy with around 90% market share, a high share of recurring revenue and a new growth leg in Bioprocessing.