GOOGL - Baird Q2 2024 International And Global Growth Fund Commentary

2024-07-19 10:20:00 ET

Summary

• In this inflationary environment, we have consistently made adjustments to focus on assets that we consider are capable of maintaining pricing power or are more attractively valued.
• In the second quarter of 2024, the Baird Chautauqua International Growth Fund Net Investor Class returned +1.18%, outperforming the MSCI ACWI ex-U.S. Index ND, which returned +0.96%.
• The Baird Chautauqua Global Growth Fund Net Investor Class returned +4.12% during the quarter, outperforming the MSCI ACWI Index ND, which returned +2.87%.
• Global economic growth looks to be steadying, following several years of negative shocks and despite the current environment ofelevated interest rates and heightened geopolitical tensions.

Market Recap

Global equity markets continued to appreciate during the second quarter, but artificial intelligence ('AI') has been the real fuel. It has supercharged the performance of U.S. stocks in particular because the biggest, marquee AI plays are heavily represented in the U.S. index. As a result, U.S. stock market performance and earnings growth have been quite narrow recently, and U.S. stocks outside of the AI orbit have lagged. Stocks in the emerging markets and international developed markets also appreciated but have a fraction of the AI theme represented in their indexes.

On the economic side, the soft-landing scenario has gained more traction. Global inflation has continued to moderate, while economic expansion has remained relatively healthy. However, central banks remain concerned about some lingering inflation pressures, and the extent of the decline in global interest rates has also moderated....

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