{"id":14513,"date":"2025-06-05T09:44:52","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T08:44:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.greenbenefit.com\/management-commentary-2025-06-05\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T14:59:48","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T13:59:48","slug":"management-commentary-june-5-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greenbenefit.com\/en\/management-commentary-june-5-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Management Commentary – June 5, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

General Development<\/h2>\n\n

In May 2025, the fund price increased by only 2.23 percent, although it temporarily recorded an increase of up to 10 percent during the month. Political developments in the USA on May 22 had a particularly negative impact: Reports of a new tax law passed in the Republican-dominated House of Representatives caused uncertainty in the solar and hydrogen sectors. The law provides for the abolition of central tax credits for clean energy, but still has to pass the Senate – with changes still possible. The solar industry in the area of private rooftops, in particular, could be negatively affected by the planned cuts. In contrast, First Solar is likely to emerge as a relative winner, as the support measures for module manufacturers are largely to be retained. <\/p>\n\n

The pressure from previously dominant geopolitical factors, in particular US tariff policy, eased noticeably in May, as agreement-oriented steps were taken in several areas. Please refer to our fact sheet<\/a> for full details of the performance. <\/p>\n\n

Fund Performance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

The development in May shows a mixed picture<\/strong><\/a>In May, fourteen of our portfolio values recorded losses, while sixteen values were able to achieve gains. The largest positive contributions came from ITM Power, SMA Solar, Ceres Power, Canadian Solar and First Solar. <\/p>\n\n

The largest individual losses were recorded by Wolfspeed, Aumann, Nano One, Hexagon Purus, DynaCert and Enphase. At the end of May, the equity ratio of our portfolio was 96 percent. <\/p>\n\n

Company Examples<\/h2>\n\n

Aumann<\/h3>\n\n

Profit-taking and targeted purchases<\/strong>In the course of May, we used a share buyback program of Aumann to specifically reduce the position. At SFC Energy, we secured profits and also reduced the position. At Enphase, we used the extreme price decline for an anti-cyclical repurchase. <\/p>\n\n

Wolfspeed<\/h3>\n\n

Complete sale in the e-mobility sector<\/strong>In May 2025, we sold the entire position in Wolfspeed for risk reasons. The decisive factor was the management’s silence on media reports – including in the Wall Street Journal and from Reuters – according to which a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing could be imminent. The reasons given were failed restructuring negotiations and growing financial pressure as a result of declining demand. <\/p>\n\n

In particular, the uncertainties in connection with new customs regulations had an additional negative impact and could not be reliably quantified. Wolfspeed had taken various measures to stabilize in recent months, including a plan presented in January to accelerate the path to operational profitability. <\/p>\n\n

In March, Wolfspeed announced cost-cutting measures through the elimination of 180 jobs. At the end of March, the company confirmed in a press release that it was examining options in connection with its convertible bonds and was holding talks with lenders, including Apollo and Renesas. The implementation of this measure was the prerequisite for receiving government funding of USD 750 million from the CHIPS Act in the USA. But the slowing growth of the electric vehicle market, combined with an oversupply of Chinese manufacturers, had led to falling prices. This had prompted the Japanese semiconductor giant Renesas to rethink its plans to produce silicon carbide semiconductors (SiC) for electric vehicles. In 2023, Renesas had concluded a 10-year contract with Wolfspeed for the supply of SiC wafers with an advance payment of USD 2 billion. However, Renesas decided at short notice to discontinue its own production of silicon carbide chips and the uncertainty about these plans by Renesas was certainly an influencing factor for the development at Wolfspeed, although Renesas does not plan to withdraw completely from the market. <\/p>\n\n

Even existing customer orders with a volume of USD 11 billion and a market share in 2024 of around 34% in the global SiC market were recently unable to sufficiently stabilize confidence. As recently as May 8, 2025, Wolfspeed reported sales of USD 185.4 million for the third quarter and the goal of being able to reach the break-even point with possible annual sales of USD 800 million. After the company declined to comment on the insolvency rumors, we parted with the entire position. <\/p>\n\n

Companies in the hydrogen sector<\/h3>\n\n

Encouraging momentum in the hydrogen sector: Portfolio companies provide positive impetus<\/strong>In May, there were a number of promising developments in the hydrogen sector at several portfolio companies. Thyssenkrupp nucera<\/strong> was awarded a contract for a comprehensive feasibility study for a large-scale hydrogen project in Europe with a planned electrolysis capacity of around 600 megawatts \u2013 a clear indication of the growing demand for industrial electrolysis solutions. <\/p>\n\n

SFC Energy<\/strong> was able to secure its first major order from Denmark for hydrogen fuel cells, which will ensure a climate-neutral emergency power supply for critical telecommunications infrastructure in the future. This underlines the growing relevance of decentralized, green energy solutions for grid stability. <\/p>\n\n

Plug Power<\/strong> has announced a significant production milestone at its plant in Woodbine, Georgia, reporting the highest monthly production volume of liquid hydrogen in the USA to date. In April, the plant produced 300 tons of liquid hydrogen, setting a new benchmark for the industry. Plug Power now has a total production capacity of 40 tons of liquid hydrogen per day at all locations, making it the largest producer in the USA. A strong signal of confidence was given by CFO Paul Middleton, who acquired 350,000 shares of the company and invested around 250,000 US dollars for this. <\/p>\n\n

Nel ASA<\/strong> announced a strategic partnership with Samsung. The aim is to establish an end-to-end solution along the entire hydrogen value chain – based on Nel’s proven electrolysis technology. This could lead to new efficiency standards and scaling opportunities. <\/p>\n\n

We already reported in detail in February about the current top value in our portfolio, ITM Power<\/strong>. In particular, about the high cash position, increasing sales and the high order backlog. The very positive development is now reflected in the price of ITM Power, which we had also expected, because ITM rose to an annual high in 2025. In April, the electrolyser manufacturer ITM Power raised its forecast for the 2024\/25 financial year, which ended at the end of the month. CEO Dennis Schulz was able to announce several new significant orders, which impressively underpins the competitiveness and sustainability of the business model. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

General Development In May 2025, the fund price increased by only 2.23 percent, although it temporarily recorded an increase of up to 10 percent during the month. Political developments in the USA on May 22 had a particularly negative impact: Reports of a new tax law passed in the Republican-dominated House of Representatives caused uncertainty […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16739,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[91],"class_list":["post-14513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-management-commentary-advisors","tag-2025-q2-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenbenefit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenbenefit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenbenefit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenbenefit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenbenefit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/greenbenefit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenbenefit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenbenefit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenbenefit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenbenefit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}