TSLA - Artisan Mid Cap Fund Q1 2024 Commentary

2024-04-24 09:10:00 ET

Summary

• Artisan Partners is an independent investment management firm focused on providing high value-added, active investment strategies to sophisticated clients globally.
• Our portfolio outperformed the Russell Midcap® Growth Index in Q1 due to balanced security selection across health care, industrials, consumer staples, consumer discretionary and communication services.
• We think prudence is justified from here, as valuations have expanded, and robust economic activity makes the pace and magnitude of near-term rate cuts somewhat suspect.
• Stocks in "hot" areas such as AI—even when ultimately worthy of the excitement—can experience expectation adjustments along the way.

Investing Environment

As we entered 2024, equity markets moved higher in anticipation of the US economy experiencing a Goldilocks scenario-soft landing combined with falling inflation-that would lead the Fed to cut interest rates. Overall, the US economy continues to show remarkable resilience in the face of elevated interest rates, with solid consumer spending and low unemployment. However, we note that evidence of cracks in the economy are emerging, such as rising credit card debt and auto loan delinquencies. Given this economic strength, it was not entirely surprising that multiple inflation readings in the quarter surprised to the upside.

As a result, expectations for Fed rate cuts as of the end of March have been pared back to just three, totaling 75bps, this year. US 10-year Treasury ( US10Y ) yields rose to 4.20% from 3.88% to start the year, while two-year yields ( US2Y ) rose to 4.62% from 4.25% to start the year....

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