PRI

Annual Letter 2025

Marketing communications for professional investors in Italy.

Before making any investment decision, please read the Prospectus and related KIDs.

 

  • 2024 Performance: Destination Value Total Return Fund delivered +7.1% (USD), +14.3% (EUR), and +8.6% (EURH). The difference reflects the USD’s significant appreciation throughout the year.
  • Destination Dynamic Income TR and Destinazione Rendimento delivered +6.8% and +7.5% respectively (both in EUR).
  • Launch of Destination Capital TR: an unconstrained equity total return strategy.
  • 2025 Outlook: After years of "American exceptionalism," the global landscape takes centre stage.
  • China: Opportunities remain despite scepticism.
  • AI and the Energy Sector: Two sides of the same coin.
  • Plenisfer Investments: Approaching its 5th anniversary in 2025!

 

1. 2024 Performance: positive contribution from 4 out of 5 Strategies

In 2024, Destination Value Total Return delivered a performance of 7.1% for the I share class in USD, 14.3% for the EUR share class, and 8.6% for the EUR-hedged share class, with a volatility of 7%. The performance variation between share classes reflects the USD/EUR exchange rate movement from the end of 2023 to 31 December 2024.

All strategies contributed positively to the fund’s performance, except for the Macro strategy, which had a negative contribution of -3%. Notably, the Compounders strategy posted a +4% return, Special Situations +3%, Alternatives +3.2%, and the Income Strategy +1.6%. The cost incurred by the fund for hedging positions throughout the year was modest (90 basis points).

A notably positive contribution to the Alternatives strategy came from the position ingold (+2.2%). Quantitative strategies also yielded positive returns, contributing a total of +100 bps.

Among Compounders, Interactive Brokers made a remarkable contribution (+190 bps), with its stock price more than doubling since purchase, followed by Advantest and Meta (+80 bps each). The only significant negative contribution came from Autostore (-80 bps).

In the Income strategy, Financials stood out with a contribution of +85 bps, followed by Telecoms and Energy.

Special Situations saw a strong contribution from both the Stressed & Distressed component (+190 bps) and the Equity component (+112 bps), driven entirely by Webuild (+150 bps).

In the Macro strategy, uranium positions weighed negatively (-2.1%) after having provided the largest positive contribution in 2023, along with equity positions linked to commodities (-115 bps). On the other hand, equity positions in banks contributed positively (+93 bps).

Fixed income total return funds performed very well over the year: Destination Dynamic Income achieved +6.8%, and Destinazione Rendimento +7.5%. The former posted a cumulative performance of +13.5% over the 19 months since its launch.

Finally, in early 2024, we launched the equity total return fund Destination Capital, which does not yet have a full year of publishable track record.

 

2. Beyond U.S. exceptionalism: markets turn global in 2025

In the first half of 2024, slowing growth concerns and the risk of a U.S. recession stemming from the delayed effects of the previous two years’ monetary tightening, dominated markets.

As the year progressed, it became clear that recession risks were modest, if not inexistent, and the market’s focus shifted to the prospect of a Trump victory in the November elections. Particular emphasis was given to the positive growth effects implied by the incoming administration’s policies, such as deregulation and tax cuts (the so-called “Trump trade”).

The result was another booming year for the U.S. equity market, driven by mega-cap technology stocks, a strengthening of the dollar against all other major currencies, and a decline in U.S. government bonds for the fourth consecutive year.

This put enormous pressure on the rest of the world’s economies and currencies. China continued to struggle with internal growth issues while benefiting from a huge trade surplus with the rest of the world, while a low-intensity industrial sector crisis, particularly in the automotive industry, persisted in Europe.

Nevertheless, the market’s attention remained fixed on the outlook for the U.S. economy and its companies.

The arguments often used to explain the United States’ economic outperformance compared to the rest of the world, based on the global dominance of its big tech, or so-called “American exceptionalism,” are, in fact, U.S.-centric arguments.

Since the launch of ChatGPT in October 2022, so-called “Magnificent Seven” stocks saw their total market capitalisation grow by over USD 8.5 trillion!

However, we believe that market focus in 2025  will shift towards the global economic outlook, trade relations between major countries, and geopolitics.

 

3. Risks and opportunities under Trump 2.0.

Expectations for the new U.S. administration’s actions are rooted in campaign promises: anti-immigration policies, tariff impositions, deregulation, and pro-growth initiatives.

However, sooner or later, it will become clear that the goals of restricting U.S. imports and reducing illegal immigration are incompatible with that of ensuring non-inflationary growth. The Trump administration will have to determine its priorities and, in our view, this will largely dictate the direction of financial markets in 2025.

This is why foreign policy will be even more important than during Trump’s first term.

Two key developments should be closely monitored:

 - Trade policies: An “aggressive” approach involving high tariffs (which are inherently inflationary and growth-reducing) could be replaced by more negotiations based on the revaluation of the main trading partners’ currencies against the dollar. This scenario would be positive for global growth and financial markets, but negative for the greenback;

 - Geopolitics: The risk is the emergence of an openly expansionist U.S. foreign policy, which would lead to strained relations with European partners, further deterioration of relations with Russia and China, and the opening of a new geopolitical crisis front in the "race for the Arctic." This would be a negative scenario for growth, bringing high market volatility, but positive for the dollar.

 

4. China: a generational investment opportunity?

The consensus is that China faces insurmountable structural problems, starting with the long-term effects of the real estate crisis. These problems have led to a classic "balance sheet recession" in which consumers reduce their spending, companies use cash flows to pay down debt, and investors fear permanent deflation. In fact, China’s long-term sovereign bonds have outperformed those of other major countries in recent years. However, Chinese stocks are considered "un-investable."

The positive case for the Chinese stock market is easy to argue: 1) valuations are attractive; 2) the market is hated by international investors; 3) China is now the global leader in many industrial sectors (e.g., electric vehicles, nuclear and renewable energy, batteries, mid-range semiconductors, and generic pharmaceuticals).

So what’s missing? A decisive fiscal stimulus to boost domestic demand. This appears more likely today than in the past, given the signals coming from the authorities.

Additionally, the stimulus to domestic demand must be sufficient to offset potential losses from a trade war with the U.S., as described above.

China has long been preparing to face a trade conflict with the U.S., following the shock from tariff tensions and the use of restrictions on U.S. technology under the first Trump administration, which continued under Biden’s government. The focus of China’s trade relations has shifted away from the West and towards Emerging Market countries. Today, much of China's enormous trade surplus (around USD 1 trillion a year) is not with Western countries but with Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.

IMF and OECD estimates for the Chinese economy predict a slowdown in 2025 compared to 2024. However, if these forecasts turn out to be overly cautious, the bear market in Chinese assets from 2021 to 2024 could represent a “generational” buying opportunity.

 

5. Europe is transitioning, but pay attention to international developments

In 2024, the European economy’s slow decline continued, caught between excessive regulation and the crisis of the export-based growth model, in the face of lower demand from China and the threat of tariffs from across the Atlantic. In particular, the automotive sector crisis has worsened. 

Moreover, political turmoil in the region’s two main countries (France and Germany), has exacerbated investors’ negative attitudes towards European stocks, which are at historical valuation lows compared to the U.S.

Again, we believe that the factors that could change sentiment positively are more likely linked to a shift in the international scenario, rather than to individual country initiatives:

 - A possible halt to the war in Ukraine, favoured by Trump’s arrival, could represent an opportunity for European companies to participate in reconstruction programs largely funded by European countries (provided, of course, that the worsening geopolitical climate described above, with the opening of the "Arctic" front, does not prevail instead);

 - Trump’s return to the international stage, together with the internal push from “populist” right-wing parties in France and Germany, could favour the adoption of more expansionary economic policies and a revision of fiscal constraints governing budget deficits and debts.

Although it is difficult to attribute a high probability to both of the factors mentioned above, the fact should not be overlooked that neither of the two scenarios is appreciably priced in market valuations.

 

6. A.I. and Energy: Two sides of the same coin

How can investors benefit from the rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence? The A.I. world is currently structured around three levels: applications (for example, Netflix and Tesla), A.I. models (like OpenAI or Gemini), and infrastructure (e.g., AWS and cloud services in general, Nvidia, etc.).

So far, existing players have reaped A.I.’s benefits. The next phase is expected to favour companies focusing on service-as-a-software (distinct from software-as-a-service). These are firms capable of layering A.I. over currently labour-intensive services , enabling them to "scale" with reduced personnel requirements. This includes applications for consumer contact services, but more significantly, back-office functions like accounting, compliance, customer service, and more.

As with other technologies, it will become clearer who the winners and losers are once the valuation "bubble" settles. For this reason, we have chosen to focus on indirect exposure to A.I. (via "enablers" in chip production, such as testers), or direct exposure where there is evidence of a durable and hard-to-disrupt competitive advantage. For instance, Meta stands out for its unparalleled access to human language data —which is the lifeblood for training AI models — surpassing Google, Reddit, Wikipedia, and X combined.

The other side of the digital revolution is the insatiable demand for energy triggered by A.I. processes. However, energy sector stocks have so far been major losers in the tech bull market.

A.I. is accelerating the transformation of Big Tech companies from an industry selling computers to one selling computational capacity, which requires significant energy consumption. Energy availability represents a critical bottleneck for future developments. A single ChatGPT request requires, on average, ten times more energy than a Google search.

The construction of massive data centres and the energy required to operate them reflect a convergence between tech and energy companies that, in our view, the market has yet to recognise fully.

We believe 2025 could mark a renewed interest in energy sector stocks, not only in the nuclear segment — which we still see as the most efficient solution to the problem of future energy demand (a nuclear reactor produces the equivalent of 800 wind turbines or 8.5 million solar panels) —, but also in traditional fossil fuel companies including oil and gas.

 

7. Conclusions: Plenisfer celebrates its 5th anniversary

Our flagship multi-strategy fund, Destination Value TR, will celebrate five years of track record in 2025.

We have always maintained that building an asset management business is a long-term endeavour, one that requires time to assemble the right team and cultivate a highly collaborative and results-driven investment culture. Therefore, reaching the five-year mark represents a significant milestone, though merely an intermediate step and by no means the final destination.

Meanwhile, we have continued to invest in the second pillar of our business: unconstrained fixed income. The Destination Dynamic Income TR fund will celebrate its second anniversary in May and has already captured the interest of “early adopters”, that is, investors who evaluate potential investments without waiting for the typical three-year track record. Their confidence is bolstered by the fact that our fixed income team has a long and successful history of experience and collaboration that predates the founding of Plenisfer.

Additionally, we have laid the groundwork for the third pillar of our future growth, by launching the unconstrained equity fund Destination Capital TR in early 2024. This fund leverages the expertise of our equity managers and analysts, who have been involved since the beginning in Destination Value’s equity strategies. This confirms not only our culture of collaboration, but also the full scalability of our investment process, based on strategy-driven combinations. Specifically, for Destination Capital, the strategies include Compounders and Special Situations (equity).

Finally, in 2024 we further strengthened the team with the appointment of Fabrizio Pasta as head of our business development, responsible for both commercial and marketing activities, while also joining our Management Committee.

We wish him and the entire team great success in tackling the challenges that await us in 2025!

January 2025

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer

Marketing communication for professional investors in Italy.

Please refer to the Prospectus and KID before making any final investment decisions.

Destination Value Total Return ("DVTR") -Investment Objective and Policy: The objective of this Fund is to achieve a higher risk-adjusted total return over the market cycle. To achieve the Fund's objectives, it is essential to realize long-term capital appreciation and underlying income through a long-term orientation on valuation and market cycles. Benchmark: SOFR Index. The Fund is actively managed and uses the Benchmark to calculate the performance-related fee. The Fund does not use the Benchmark for investment purposes.

Destination Dynamic Income Total Return ("DDITR") - Investment Objective and Policy: The Fund aims to achieve attractive risk-adjusted total return through capital appreciation and income generation over the medium term. The Portfolio is actively managed and does not make investments in relation to any benchmark; this means that individual positions are actively selected based on specific research and evaluations. Although it is actively managed and does not use a benchmark for portfolio allocation, the Portfolio refers to the €STR Index for performance fee calculation purposes.

Destination Capital Total Return ("DCTR") - Investment Objective and Policy: The Portfolio aims to achieve an attractive total return in terms of risk through long-term capital appreciation with some income generation, focusing on long-term valuation and market cycles. The Fund is actively managed and does not make investments in relation to any benchmark; this means that individual positions are actively selected based on specific research and evaluations. Although it is actively managed and does not use a benchmark for portfolio allocation, the Portfolio refers to the MSCI ACWI Total Return USD Index for performance fee calculation purposes.

There is no guarantee that an investment objective will be met or that there will be a return on capital. The sub-fund does not benefit from any guarantees to protect capital.

Synthetic Risk Indicator DVTR and DDITR (classes R EUR Acc): 3 (medium-low risk) 

Synthetic Risk Indicator DCTR (Class I USD Acc): 4 (medium risk) 

The Risk Indicator may vary by Fund and share class, please refer to the relevant Prospectus and PRIIP KID for more details. For SRI classification of other share classes available in your country, please get in touch with your financial advisor.

Main risks of the Funds: interest rate risk, credit risk, emerging market risk (including China). There is no predetermined limit to exposure to emerging markets. Therefore, emerging market risk could be high at times, frontier market risk, foreign exchange risk, volatility risk, liquidity risk, derivatives risk, short exposure risk, distressed debt securities risk, securitized debt risk, contingent capital securities risk ("CoCos"), Equity risk, Commodity risk, Securities under Rule 144A / Regulation S. Capital loss risks: this fund is not a guaranteed product. You may not receive part or all of the initial amount invested. Considering the investment strategies that characterize the Funds, the expected level of leverage may vary up to 350%, excluding the total net value of the portfolio. The use of leverage can increase the risk of potential losses. This is not an exhaustive list of risks. Other risks may occur. Before making any investment decision, please read the Prospectus and the Key Information Document (KID), especially the risks and costs section, available at the following web pages:

- https://www.plenisfer.com/it/en/professional/fund-page/plenisfer-investments-sicav-destination-value-total-return-iyh-eur-or-lu2087694647-acc-LU2087694647 https://www.plenisfer.com/it/en/professional/fund-page/plenisfer-investments-sicav-destination-value-total-return-iyh-eur-or-lu2087694647-acc-LU2087694647

 

- https://www.plenisfer.com/it/en/professional/fund-page/plenisfer-investments-sicav-destination-dynamic-income-total-return-ix-or-lu2597958938-distr-LU2597958938

Reference currencies of the sub-funds: USD (Destination Value Total Return and Destination Capital Total Return) and EUR (Destination Dynamic Income Total Return). When the Fund/Action reference currency is different from yours, returns and costs may increase or decrease due to currency and exchange rate fluctuations.

(DVTR) Costs: Class R, Share: X EUR Accumulation (ISIN: LU2185978587, registered in Austria, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Portugal). One-time costs on entry or exit: Entry costs: 5% of the amount you pay when you subscribe to this investment. This is the maximum you will be charged. Exit costs: 0% we do not charge an exit fee for this product. Underwriting costs are calculated based on NAV. Ongoing costs recorded each year: Management fees and other administrative costs: 1.46% per year (including management fee: 1.25%). This is an estimate based on last year's actual costs. Transaction costs: 0.28% per year of the value of your investment. This is an estimate of the costs incurred when we buy and sell the underlying investments for the product. The actual amount will vary depending on how much we buy and sell. Incidental charges incurred under certain conditions: Performance Fee: 0.00% The redemption fee is calculated based on the mechanism of the "High Water Mark with Performance-Related Fee Benchmark," with a Performance-Related Fee Rate of 15.00% per annum of the positive return achieved above the "SOFR Index" (the Performance-Related Fee Benchmark). The current amount will vary according to the performance of your investment.

(DDITR) Costs: Class R, Share: X EUR Accumulation (ISIN: LU2597958268, registered in Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg and Portugal). One-time costs on entry or exit: Underwriting costs: 4%, of the amount you pay when you subscribe to this investment. This is the maximum you will be charged Exit costs: 0%, we do not charge any exit fees for this product. Underwriting costs are calculated based on NAV. Ongoing costs recorded each year: Management fee and other administrative or operating costs: 1.31% (including management fee: max 1.10% per year) of investment value per year. This is an estimate based on the last year's actual costs. Transaction costs: 0.15% of the value of the investment per year. This is an estimate of the costs incurred in buying and selling the underlying investments for the product. Ancillary charges incurred under certain conditions: Performance fee: 0.00%. The performance fee is calculated according to the "High Water Mark with performance fee benchmark" mechanism with a performance fee rate of 15.00% per annum of the positive return above the €STR Index (the performance fee benchmark).

(DCTR) Costs: Class I, Share: X USD Accumulation (ISIN: LU2717270206, registered in Germany, Spain, France and Italy). One-time costs on entry or exit: Underwriting costs: 0%, we do not charge any underwriting fees for this product. This is the maximum you will be charged Exit costs: 0%, we do not charge any exit fees for this product. Underwriting costs are calculated based on NAV. Ongoing costs recorded each year: Management fee and other administrative or operating costs: 0.90% (including management fee: max 0.75% per year) of investment value per year. This is an estimate based on the last year's actual costs. Transaction costs: 0.12% of the value of the investment per year. This is an estimate of the costs incurred in buying and selling the underlying investments for the product. Ancillary charges incurred under certain conditions: Performance fee: 0.00%. The performance fee is calculated according to the "High Water Mark with performance fee benchmark" mechanism with a performance fee rate of 15.00% per annum of the positive return above the MSCI ACWI Net Total Return USD Index (the performance fee benchmark). The actual amount will vary according to the performance of your investment.

Performance and management fees are calculated and, where applicable, accrued separately for each share class within a sub-fund on each valuation day.

Costs may increase or decrease depending on currency fluctuations and exchange rates.

This is not an exhaustive list of costs. Other costs apply and vary depending on the share class. Before making any investment decision, please read the Prospectus and the Key Information Document (KID), especially the sections on risks and costs. The documents are available at the following web pages: 

 

- https://www.plenisfer.com/it/en/professional/fund-page/plenisfer-investments-sicav-destination-value-total-return-iyh-eur-or-lu2087694647-acc-LU2087694647

https://www.plenisfer.com/it/en/professional/fund-page/plenisfer-investments-sicav-destination-dynamic-income-total-return-ix-or-lu2597958938-distr-LU2597958938.

Recommended holding period: 5 years (DVTR), 4 years (DDITR), 5 years (DCTR)

SFDR Classification: The Funds promote, among other characteristics, environmental or social characteristics according to Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 on Sustainability Reporting in the Financial Services Sector ("SFDR"). The Funds are not an Article 9 according to SFDR (does not have sustainable investment as an objective). For all information on SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure), please refer to Annex B of the Prospectus ("pre-contract document"). Before making an investment decision, please also consider all ESG features or objectives, approach, binding elements and methodological limitations contained in the SFDR Pre-contractual Disclosure, as well as the Summary of Product Disclosure on the website, available in English or in an official language of your country of residence, in the "Sustainability Disclosure" section of the website: https://www.generali-investments.lu/it/en/institutional/sustainability-related-disclosure.

Important Information 

This marketing communication relates to Plenisfer Investments SICAV, an investment company with variable capital (SICAV) under the Luxembourg law of December 17, 2010, qualified as an undertaking for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS), and its Funds, " Destination Value Total Return," "Destination Dynamic Income Total Return," and "Destination Capital Total Return ("DCTR")," collectively referred to as "the Funds." This marketing communication is intended for investors in Italy, where the Funds is registered, and is not intended for retail investors or U.S. persons as defined in Regulation S of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended. 

This document is co-issued by Generali Asset Management S.p.A. Asset Management Company, Generali Investments Luxembourg S.A. and Plenisfer Investments SGR S.p.A. ("Plenisfer Investments"). Plenisfer Investments is authorized as a SICAV - UCITS management company in Italy, regulated by the Bank of Italy - Via Niccolò Machiavelli 4, Trieste, 34132, Italy - CM: 15404 - LEI: 984500E9CB9BBCE3E272.

The Fund Management Company is Generali Investments Luxembourg S.A., a public limited company (société anonyme) under Luxembourg law, authorized as a UCITS Management Company and Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM) in Luxembourg, regulated by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) - CSSF Code: S00000988 LEI: 222100FSOH054LBKJL62. 

Generali Asset Management S.p.A is an Italian asset management company regulated by the Bank of Italy and appointed to act as a commercial promoter of the Funds in the EU/EEA countries where the Funds are registered for distribution (Via Niccolò Machiavelli 4, Trieste, 34132, Italy - C.M.n.15376 - LEI: 549300LKCLUOHU2BK025).

Before making any investment decision, please read the Key Information Document (KID), the Prospectus and Annex B of the Prospectus ("pre-contractual document"). The KIDs are available in one of the official languages of the EU/EEA country where the funds are registered for distribution, and the Prospectus is available in English (not French), as are the annual and semi-annual reports at www.generali-investments.lu or upon request free of charge to Generali Investments Luxembourg S.A., 4 Rue Jean Monnet, L-2180 Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, e-mail address: GILfundInfo@generali-invest.com. The Management Company may decide to terminate the agreements entered into for the marketing of the Funds. For a summary of your rights as an investor in connection with an individual complaint or collective action for a financial product dispute at the European level and at the level of your country of residence in the EU, please refer to the following link https://www.generali-investments.lu/lu/en/institutional/about-us-sfdr. The summary is available in English or an authorized language in your country of residence. A summary of the SFDR information (in English or an authorized language) on the product is available on the Funds page of the website in the "Sustainability Information" section

This marketing communication is not intended to provide investment, tax, accounting, professional or legal advice and does not constitute an offer to buy or sell the Funds or any other security that may be presented. Any opinions or forecasts provided are current as of the date specified, may change without notice, may not occur, and do not constitute a recommendation or offer of any investment. Past or target performance does not predict future returns. There is no guarantee that positive forecasts will be achieved in the future. The value of an investment and any income from it may rise or fall, and you may not recover the full amount originally invested. Future performance is subject to taxation, which depends on each investor's personal circumstances and may change in the future.

Please get in touch with your tax advisor to understand the impact of taxes on your returns. The existence of a registration or approval does not imply that a regulatory authority has determined that these products are suitable for investors. It is recommended that you carefully consider the terms of your investment and obtain professional, legal, financial and tax advice where necessary before making a decision to invest in a Fund. 

Generali Investments is a brand name of Generali Asset Management S.p.A Asset Management Company, Generali Insurance Asset Management S.p.A. Asset Management Company, Generali Investments Luxembourg S.A. and Generali Investments Holding S.p.A. - Sources (unless otherwise stated): Plenisfer Investments and Generali Asset Management S.p.A Asset Management Company.

 

 

 

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DISCLAIMER

Please read the KIID as well as the Prospectus before subscribing. Past performance is no indication of future performance.

The value of your investment and the return on it can go down as well as up and, on redemption, you may receive less than you originally invested.

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