Blue’s News and Views #121 – A First Half of 2026 to Remember

9 July 2026

Click here to read the full letter from portfolio manager Ivan Nyssen: Blue’s News and Views No. 121

In his 121st letter, “Blue’s News & Views,” asset manager Ivan Nyssen reviews the performance of The Blue Fund SICAV funds during the first half of 2026, highlighting an especially positive period for the strategy and sharing his views on markets, artificial intelligence, fixed income, and current investment opportunities.

Fund performance

The Blue Global Fund SICAV reaches a total net asset value (NAV) of €547 million. The NAV per share stands at €389.20, very close to its all-time high of €389.83, recorded on 25 June 2026. Since its launch on 25 October 2012, with an initial value of €100 per share, the fund has built a 13.7-year track record and delivered strong appreciation.

Meanwhile, The Blue World Equities Fund reaches a total net asset value (NAV) of €19.7 million. The NAV per share stands at €101.27, representing a new all-time high since its launch on 1 June 2026, when it started with an initial value of €100 per share. At the time of writing the letter, the fund has €28 million in assets under management (AUM), a start that Ivan Nyssen describes as very positive, while expressing his appreciation for the confidence placed in the fund by investors.

The portfolio’s current asset allocation is approximately:

– 76% equities
– 21% bonds
– 3% cash

Equities: energy, commodities and semiconductors

According to Ivan Nyssen, the main drivers of performance during the period were certain investments related to commodities and technology.

In the energy and natural resources sector, investments in companies such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, Shell and Glencore stood out. The management team reduced exposure before and during the Gulf conflict, subsequently taking advantage of market corrections to increase positions at prices considered attractive. In the semiconductor space, Intel and SK Hynix made a notable contribution. The manager believes the market has evolved from the initial enthusiasm focused on Nvidia’s GPUs towards areas such as processors, memory and infrastructure technologies required for the development of artificial intelligence.

Although positions in both companies were reduced due to regulatory considerations related to UCITS concentration limits, the manager maintains a positive view of their earnings-generation potential.

Artificial intelligence: technological opportunity, but with moderate expectations

Ivan Nyssen believes there is an element of excessive optimism surrounding artificial intelligence. While acknowledging the transformative potential of the technology, he believes that some current valuations are pricing in growth and future profitability levels that are too high.

Among his main arguments, he highlights that:

Current language models alone do not guarantee the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI).
Simply increasing the scale of models will not be enough to overcome all their limitations.
Certain critical applications will continue to require high levels of reliability and supervision.
Lower energy and operating costs will be key to the mass adoption of these technologies.

The manager believes that some AI-related companies may fail to meet current market expectations, particularly those trading at very demanding valuations. Conversely, he maintains a more favourable view of companies such as Alphabet, Meta, Intel and SK Hynix, which could benefit from a more efficient evolution of the technology ecosystem.

New investments and portfolio adjustments

During the six-month period, the management team took advantage of market corrections to initiate new positions in Galaxy Entertainment, Inditex, Ryanair, Nu Holdings, MercadoLibre, Ameriprise, Fox Corp and Oracle.

The team also increased existing positions in companies such as T-Mobile, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Chinese stocks, Comcast and energy companies.

Ivan Nyssen estimates that the equity portfolio currently offers an approximate FCF yield (free cash flow yield) of 7%–7.5% for 2026, above the implied return of the S&P 500, which, in his view, provides an additional margin of safety.

Fixed income: higher yields and longer duration

Within the bond portfolio, Blue has taken advantage of rising yields and falling prices to increase the average duration to 7.4 years and raise the average yield to maturity to 5.6%. In his letter, Ivan Nyssen also analyses the change in leadership at the US Federal Reserve and the arrival of Kevin Warsh, whose approach could involve a gradual reduction of the Fed’s balance sheet. In his view, a more restrictive monetary policy could help lower inflation expectations and support a stable evolution of the dollar.

Macroeconomic outlook: the United States, Europe and Asia

Ivan Nyssen maintains a constructive view on the United States, highlighting factors such as:

– A policy environment favourable to tax reductions
– Lower regulatory pressure
– Support for reindustrialisation
– Availability of abundant and competitively priced energy

By contrast, he remains more critical of Europe, pointing to structural challenges related to:

– High public deficits
– Energy dependency
– Energy policy decisions
– Lower relative economic dynamism

Regarding Asia, and particularly China and Hong Kong, the manager maintains a positive outlook. He believes that current valuations, combined with moderate inflation, low interest rates and attractive currencies, provide long-term investment opportunities.

Conclusion

A clear conviction in a strategy based on actively selecting companies with attractive valuations, strong cash generation and long-term value creation potential.

Ivan Nyssen maintains a cautious stance towards certain areas of the market where expectations appear excessively high, particularly around artificial intelligence, while identifying opportunities in sectors such as energy, semiconductors, fixed income and Asian markets. According to Nyssen, the current portfolio combines growth, cash generation and an appropriate margin of safety to navigate different market scenarios.

You can read the full letter here.