Month: April 2023

Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen

«Gentlemen, no one can stop me from getting smarter every day.»
Konrad Adenauer

Konrad Adenauer

Conrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer, Konrad Adenauer, was the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963 and the first Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1951 to 1955. During a meeting in December 1949 with members of his party, the CDU (Christian Democratic Union), he was called to have radically changed his position on joint European forces. He responded to those charges: «Gentlemen, no one can stop me from getting smarter every day.»

Germany’s recent economic history

Many hard-working and well-educated workers, professional pride, excellent and modern infrastructure (which was built after WW2 and was state of the art for decades), a liberal economic policy and cheap energy, among many other factors, have ensured that Germany could rise from a war-ravaged country to the fourth largest global economy. (Ladies and Gentlemen, I am deliberately simplifying a complex issue here. This is due to “Stefan’s weekly” format, which should remain concise).

Germany’s economic present

I am utterly puzzled, and again I am simplifying, but why would German politicians take three functioning nuclear power plants off the grid and, on the other hand, pour thousands of tons of concrete in beautiful landscapes to be able to erect wind turbines on them and at the same time run coal-fired power plants to partially compensate for the electricity no longer produced by the shutdown nuclear power plants? Furthermore, why would German politicians hurt their small and medium-sized businesses as well as their large industrial conglomerates with exploding energy prices and risk a shrinking economic environment, recession and declining prosperity for broad sections of the population? Is this a sign of ideological blindness or, at best political opportunism?

Why Would I come up with this?

I understand if you ask yourself why Kremeth comes up with such a highly political and emotional topic in his «Stefan’s weekly». The reason is that I receive many calls, emails and questions during discussions with clients regarding investments in German companies. The consensus often is that due to the political and macroeconomic environment, there is no money to be made. Is that true? What do you reckon?

My view

Many, if not most, listed companies in Germany have an international client base and own production facilities around the globe. While it must be painful for numerous of them to see and experience what is happening in their home country, their global presence in a lot of circumstances offers solid diversification. Therefore, and this is what I am usually saying to our private clients, I see opportunities to invest in German companies at reasonable multiples and attractive dividend yields, despite the incomprehensible political developments and the expected economic consequences.

Konrad Adenauer once more

Ladies and Gentlemen, we need politicians to become smarter again, and we need them to have the courage to question their own decisions and views and, if necessary, to change their actions. Of course, we all make mistakes, but we should try to learn from them and introduce corrective actions where ever appropriate.

Disclaimer

As always, these are, of course, my very personal views. Thanks for your understanding.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please share your opinion with me, but please remember (instead of hitting the reply button) to send your messages to: smk@incrementum.li.

Many thanks, indeed!

I wish you an excellent start to the day and a wonderful weekend!

Yours truly,

Stefan M. Kremeth
CEO & Head of Wealth Management
Incrementum AG – we love managing assets

Tel.: +423 237 26 60
Cell: +41 79 303 48 39
Im alten Riet 102
9494 Schaan/Liechtenstein
Mail: smk@incrementum.li

Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen

««I do not know what the future holds for us, but I am confident that things will pick up again after every crisis, and dividends will continue to flow.»

Quarterly Report

Every quarter I report to our private clients. Let me share a part of the report on Q1 2023. It may be attractive to one or the other because it provides insight into the differentiated and multi-layered perspective in Incrementum AG’s portfolio management and shows how multi-faceted the approach to solving the problem of maintaining purchasing power can be.

June 13 2023 – 10 years Incrementum AG

On June 13, 2023, Incrementum AG will celebrate its ten anniversary. For this, we invited our private clients to a round of golf for those who enjoy playing golf, and all of them (golfers and non-golfers) for drinks, a barbecue dinner and a fabulous and relaxing evening at a beautiful golf club. So if you want to be part of it, feel free to become a private client of Incrementum AG.

Sustainability 1

I explained Incrementum’s view on sustainability to our private clients in a previous quarterly report (beginning of April 2022). The following part comes directly from the current quarterly report. «However, it is now the case that a new regulation stipulates that you, as customers, should give some thought to your personal sustainability preference. We have therefore developed a form that every customer must fill out and sign. We are obliged to request this form from you in the coming months. The paper is not necessarily self-explanatory for all persons, for which I apologise. As it must comply with strict regulatory requirements, the scope for wording on our side was somewhat limited. I will happily explain and discuss the form with you in the coming weeks and months. So far, unfortunately, the document only exists in German, but it will be translated within the following weeks.»

Sustainability 2

You know, Ladies and Gentlemen, as Incrementum AG, we want to opt-out as long as possible, not because we do not care but because of the many different standards used in the industry and because we feel that solving the problem of maintaining purchasing power is currently not even part of the sustainability equation, which to us seems a colossal omission.

Questions about the market environment

Now, our private clients often ask me whether I am not worried about the world situation and whether I do not see any risks.

Answer

My answer to this question in the report was the following. «Of course, I see risks and worry from time to time. This has accompanied me for decades and is an inherent part of my profession. How often have I warned you about Credit Suisse, for example? On the other hand, I also see opportunities time and again. At the moment, I have the feeling that very many people see mainly risks and the bad and almost forget to look at opportunities. All our portfolios have developed positively without exception over the last few years and also in 2023, and all the companies within our “dividend share strategy” have announced that they will pay dividends and, in some cases, even increase them; the energy crisis notwithstanding, the war in Ukraine notwithstanding, sanctions notwithstanding and banking crisis notwithstanding. At the risk of repeating myself over and over again, I am pleased to be able to tell you that during all the troubles of the past years, dividends have risen on average, even if some shares have shown significant volatility and, in some cases are still trading below their purchase price, they have nevertheless delivered the expected cash flows. We can reinvest these cash flows and expect even more of them in the years to come and can thus benefit from the effect of compounding.»

And again…

The quarterly report ended with: «I do not know what the future holds for us, but I am confident that things will pick up again after every crisis, and dividends will continue to flow.»

Ladies and Gentlemen, please share your opinion with me, but please remember (instead of hitting the reply button) to send your messages to: smk@incrementum.li.

Many thanks, indeed!

I wish you an excellent start to the day and a wonderful weekend, and hope you will join us on June 13, 2023, as our new private client!

Yours truly,

Stefan M. Kremeth
CEO & Head of Wealth Management
Incrementum AG – we love managing assets

Tel.: +423 237 26 60
Cell: +41 79 303 48 39
Im alten Riet 102
9494 Schaan/Liechtenstein
Mail: smk@incrementum.li