In May, the Listed Infrastructure Fund continued its positive development. Especially GDP-sensitive stocks profited from the easing of trade tensions between the US and China. For instance, One of the top performers in the portfolio was the US railway operator Union Pacific. The company reported volume growth of 2% for the past quarter compared to Q1 2017. Furthermore, the company made progress in reducing its
operating ratio. The growing freight volumes in the railroad sector were also the main reason for the positive performance of Canadian National. Overall, the railroad sector benefited from the positive economic momentum and better prospects of raising prices above cost inflation, due to shortage of truck capacity. Meanwhile, the positive performance was partially offset by the political uncertainty in Italy. This resulted, in the view of the asset manager, to an overreaction on the European stock markets. Elsewhere, the Brazilian water and waste management company Sabesp, reported results below expectations, which led to a decline in the share price. Finally, the shares of the Canadian pipeline operator Enbridge showed a positive performance during the reporting month. The company reported promising Q1 results and made further progress on its deleveraging target. Market participants also welcomed the fact that Enbridge wants to consolidate its four subsidiaries in order to reduce the complexity of its corporate structure.
