Widespread price declines are weighing on the portfolio<\/strong><\/p>\n\n In September, 24 of our portfolio companies saw their stock prices decline, while 7 stocks rose. The declines and gains affected all four sectors of the portfolio. <\/p>\n\n The largest contributors to the losses were Fluence Energy, Plug Power, JinkoSolar, Daqo, and Voltatron.<\/p>\n\n The largest positive contributions came from thyssenkrupp nucera, Ceres Power, and Nano One.<\/p>\n\n At the end of the month, the portfolio’s equity allocation stood at 98.1 percent.<\/p>\n\n Geopolitics and Interest Rate Hikes Have a Significant Impact<\/strong><\/p>\n\n The Federal Reserve implemented the interest rate hike that the market had anticipated in the U.S. Such interest rate hikes regularly influence the price performance of interest-rate-sensitive small- and mid-cap stocks and technology companies. The ongoing conflict in Iran and the resulting rise in oil prices further weighed on market sentiment. <\/p>\n\n Overall, the market environment therefore remains challenging. However, we expect to see increasing momentum at the corporate level for the remainder of 2026 and, above all, in 2027, which should enable our portfolio companies to decouple themselves from this negative market environment. <\/p>\n\n Purchases and Sales<\/strong><\/p>\n\n We reduced our position in QuantumScape further and sold small positions in Elia and SMA Solar. We invested these proceeds in a countercyclical manner in stocks that had fallen sharply, such as Novonix, Fluence Energy, and JinkoSolar. <\/p>\n\n A change in strategy at Volkswagen leads to a reduction in the portfolio weighting<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Volkswagen, a key partner of QuantumScape, plans to implement extensive cost reductions in its development and production processes. In this context, a potential sale of corporate holdings such as QuantumScape is also being considered. Since the short-term impact on QuantumScape is currently difficult to assess, we have reduced the portfolio weighting as a precautionary measure from approximately 3.5 percent to about 1.3 percent. <\/p>\n\n We are closely monitoring further developments and may increase our position again if it becomes apparent that QuantumScape can bridge the potential gap through partnerships with other automakers.<\/p>\n\n A positive factor for our portfolio is that as early as last year, in 2025, when the stock price was above approximately $16\u2014roughly three times the current share price\u2014we reduced our weighting from nearly 10 percent to less than 5 percent, thereby locking in profits early on. Sales are shown in RED and purchases in GREEN over the past 12 months. The left-hand scale shows the price history in USD. <\/p>\n\n Fluence Energy \u2013 Battery Storage for the Power Grids of the Future<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Fluence Energy, based in Virginia (U.S.), is a leading system integrator for grid-connected battery energy storage systems, jointly founded by the U.S. energy provider and power generator AES and the German industrial giant Siemens. The company\u2019s global manufacturing and operations division is responsible for the production and worldwide delivery of energy storage systems, as well as for the operation and maintenance of power plants. <\/p>\n\n Production problems are weighing on performance in the short term<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Fluence Energy has significantly lowered its forecast for 2026 due to production delays in the U.S. Expected revenue has been reduced from approximately $3 billion to $2.4 billion, while an adjusted EBITDA loss of nearly $200 million is now anticipated. The production ramp-up at the new plant in Houston was initially delayed by about three months and was recently further hampered by additional automation issues. <\/p>\n\n By contrast, demand for energy storage solutions remains strong both in the U.S. and internationally, and the order backlog stands at a record $6.4 billion. In the third quarter of 2026 alone, more than $1.44 billion in new orders were added. The contractually secured order backlog for energy storage projects rose to 12.6 GW, up from 9.1 GW at the end of September 2025. <\/p>\n\n The downward revision to the forecast in September is therefore primarily a problem related to implementation or production, rather than a problem with demand.<\/p>\n\n The company responded decisively by reorganizing its production and supply chain processes and has already achieved initial improvements in daily production volumes. Among the company\u2019s immediate priorities are converting its order backlog into revenue and cash while improving working capital efficiency. <\/p>\n\n The goal is to restore a more reliable operating foundation and achieve neutral-to-positive operating cash flow by 2027.<\/p>\n\n Fluence Strengthens Its Supply Chain Through a Partnership with EVE Energy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n In September, Fluence Energy signed a multi-year supply agreement with battery manufacturer EVE Energy, thereby strengthening its global supply chain for energy storage systems. More reliable access to battery cells is expected to increase supply and cost transparency, reduce procurement risks, and give Fluence greater flexibility in implementing large-scale storage projects. At the same time, the partnership supports the further scaling of the energy storage business and improves the company\u2019s ability to meet growing global demand. <\/p>\n\n AI Data Centers as a Key Growth Driver for Fluence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n The rapid expansion of AI data centers is opening up additional growth opportunities for Fluence Energy. AI facilities require highly reliable, flexible power supply systems that can handle sudden fluctuations in electricity demand. <\/p>\n\n Position in Fluence Significantly Increased<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Fluence\u2019s downward revisions in September led some analysts to make drastic cuts to their price forecasts. An analyst at Baird, for example, lowered the 12-month price target from $10 to $3. In doing so, the analyst focused heavily on the final quarter of 2026. Such forecasts often have a significant impact on short-term stock price movements, and that was the case here as well. The stock price corrected sharply to approximately $7, and we took advantage of this pullback to buy the stock against the trend. <\/p>\n\n The chart shows the number of Fluence shares held. In September, we increased our holdings from 138,237 shares to 295,489 shares, thereby lowering the average price in our portfolio to less than $12. <\/p>\n\n Fluence currently accounts for approximately 4 percent of the portfolio.<\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In September 2026, the fund’s price declined, closing the month down 8.61 percent. Please refer to our fact sheet for complete performance data. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":16739,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[108],"class_list":["post-17683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-management-commentary-advisors","tag-2026-q3"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenbenefit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17683","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\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenbenefit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17683"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/greenbenefit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17707,"href":"https:\/\/greenbenefit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17683\/revisions\/17707"}],"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=17683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenbenefit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenbenefit.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Corporate Developments<\/h2>\n\n
QuantumScape<\/h3>\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\nFluence Energy<\/h3>\n\n
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