The stock market was slightly weaker in September, which affected the Global Security Fund, which was down 1.47 percent and 1.45 percent, respectively, for share classes R and S.
Growth equities performed worst with a few exceptions, such as the cyber security company Palo Alto Networks, which was up 5.61 percent and was the month's best performing holding with a contribution of 0.17 percent. The company continues to show strong growth and benefits from the strong investment trend in network solutions.
The security company Raytheon Technologies was up 3.07 percent for the month with a contribution of 0.11 percent. The company has large operations in the aircraft industry and benefits from the removal of COVID-19 restrictions and the recovery of air traffic.
The security consulting company CACI was up 3.38 percent for the month with a contribution of 0.10 percent. The company has won a number of procurements and is well positioned for increasing investments in cyber security.
The Norwegian security company Kongsberg Gruppen was up 1.55 percent for the month with a contribution of 0.10 percent. The company has won a large number of procurements around the world and the company is well positioned in cyber, space and maritime.
Boeing was up 1.81 percent for the month with a contribution of 0.05 percent.
Crowdstrike is one of the best-performing companies in the long run, but fell back in September and was the worst-performing company of the month, down 11.06 percent with a contribution of -0.69 percent. The company's products are used by many players in the cyber security industry and we view this month's price development as a short-term price consolidation.
Honeywell was down 6.97 percent for the month with a contribution of -0.27 percent. The company is active in the aircraft industry and the forecast points to a recovery in the sales growth rate, which has declined somewhat in recent years. The company has a strong free cash flow and increased its dividend for the 12th year in a row, by 5.4 percent from the previous year.
The fort was down 5.77 percent with a contribution of 0.32 percent. The cybersecurity company with a focus on network solutions is the year's best performing holding and the price decline is seen as a short-term consolidation. The security and technology company Teledyne was down 5.8 percent with a contribution of -0.26 percent and Microsoft was down 5.08 with a contribution of 0.22 percent.
