The Neptune fund’s second-largest holding, Italian banking group Intesa Sanpaolo, was 7.3% higher in Monday’s trade, while top-ten holdings in UniCredit (+11%), Commerzbank (+8.9%) and Société Générale looked set to pay off.
The manager has long argued that Europe’s banks are overdue a recovery, and been prepared to suffer losses as his bank holdings proved volatile in recent years.
In March Burnett told our sister publication Portfolio Adviser that Europe’s banks were looking at a “once in a generation opportunity”, thanks to the recent reversal of the trend of falling interest rates.
“History says for European equities, this is a once in a generation opportunity for value. Banks are the clear standout opportunity,” said Burnett just a few weeks ago.
Few funds report their exposure to banks specifically to FE Analytics, but of those who do John Bennett’s £2.2bn Henderson European Selected Opportunities is the highest weighted – at 22.6% according to the research firm’s most recent data.
Visible in the fund’s most recent top-ten list is Dutch banking and financial services firm ING Group, which was up 5.1% at one point on Monday.
