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The second quarter was one of consolidation for the portfolio. The Small Cap TSX lost 26 basis points for the quarter, with the fund down 43 basis points. After a strong return in the first quarter, weakening economic data and escalating U.S./China trade rhetoric impacted returns. The concern with regards to slowing global growth have prompted world central banks to adopt a dovish stance, which helped markets rally in June.
Below is a table of Canadian and global stock market returns for the 2nd quarter.
Lightspeed POS Inc., Ero Copper and Semafo Inc. were the three largest contributors to the portfolio and added +3.5% to the fund. Yangarra Resources Ltd. Kelt Exploration and Nuvista Energy Ltd. were the three largest detractors, subtracting -2.0%.
Lightspeed POS Inc. was a new addition to the portfolio with the company coming public in March 2019 at a price of $16.00/share. The business provides retailers and restauranteurs with a cloud-based ecommerce platform. While their business is similar to Shopify, Lightspeed focuses more on brick and mortar companies by helping manage their customer’s mobile, omnichannel, loyalty, labour schedule, supply-chain and payments systems. The management team is very impressive, and the company has had a strong history of growth as a private company. The stock came out at a reasonable valuation, and the stock has appreciated +148% since it’s IPO. With the price appreciation, we have taken some profits, but maintain a significant weight as the company continues growing at +20% per annum.