Performance Review 2006
Dominique Catteaux: "As Nestor France fund is a conviction investment fund, its performance is linked to the behaviour of its main lines in portfolio. In the beginning of 2006, performance has been positively driven by the surges of artprice.com shares (art auctions) and Maurel & prom shares (oil). But the market downturn ruined the good start and the fund finally under-performed."
Performance Review 2007
Dominique Catteaux: "Nestor France Fund stays invested in its main convictions, but markets aren’t in a good mood."
Performance Review 2008
Dominique Catteaux: "Markets are very bearish with the subprime crisis. As Nestor France Fund is invested in small caps, the fly to quality phenomenom push Fund’s prices to very low levels. Stock prices weren’t correlated to their fundamentals, creating opportunities."
Performance Review 2009
Dominique Catteaux: "Nestor France Fund managed to leave the crisis with a huge outperformance. Stock prices evaluate again according to their fundamentals and firms results improve sharply."
Performance Review 2010
Dominique Catteaux: "Nestor France Fund succeeded during all year to follow the Mid60 Index which is a very difficult index to outperform. For instance, The Mid 60 Index behaviour is widely much better than the cac 40 on long period."
Performance 2011 - Year-to-Date
Dominique Catteaux: "Nestor France Fund meets success with its long term convictions, especially with artprice.com which ranked in the best year performers in Paris Bourse. The debt crisis winds are too strong to avoid a sharp decline in fund prices."
Performance since 2006
Dominique Catteaux: "As Nestor France outperformed sharply Mid 60 Index during 2005/2006 period, the fund then succeeded to follow its benchmark, the Mid 60 index. Each crisis period carry out sharp declines, because investors are reluctant to stay invested in small caps. It is important to mention that these crisis have an historical magnitude, with systemic problems on debts. In 2011, Nestor France Fund has been able to reach new historic levels, a true performance for an European fund."
Investment Process and Strategy – How does the Fund Manager invest?
Dominique Catteaux: "Nestor France Fund stock-picking consists in investing in firms which will create value for their shareholders in a mid/long term view. We buy some stocks which found new oil fields or benefit of deregulations in money payment process on the web or in art dealing. We put the accent on business models more than in financial ratios."
Investment Outlook
Dominique Catteaux: "As the debt crisis is worsening and interest rates levels up all around the world, it is difficult to see how the economic leaders will be able to insure an economic recovery especially in Europe and by extension in the rest of the world. We have also to surmount the effects of an economic downturn in the end of 2011 and at the beginning of 2012. Markets are already very low, off-setting more than a decade of economic growth. Most of the stocks in portfolio are at prices which anticipate the worst scenarios. So, the fund is well placed to do well again when problems will fade away."
