On August 19, 2026, Moderna and Merck announced positive results from the Phase III INTerpath-001 trial evaluating the personalized mRNA-based cancer vaccine intismeran autogene (mRNA-4157/V940) in combination with Keytruda in patients with stage IIB–IV melanoma following complete surgical resection. The study met its primary endpoint of recurrence-free survival. A key secondary endpoint, distant metastasis-free survival, was also met, with improvements deemed statistically significant and clinically meaningful compared with Keytruda alone, and no new safety signals identified. This is the first randomized Phase III trial to demonstrate the clinical benefit of this class of “neoantigen” vaccines, representing a major validation of the mRNA platform beyond infectious disease vaccines. Detailed data have not yet been released and will be presented at an upcoming medical congress, a key step ahead of a potential regulatory filing.
August was marked by a rebound in technology stocks (+6%), as AI-related announcements renewed investor interest in the sector. Materials also rose sharply, gaining nearly 10%, supported by higher gold prices and gold-mining stocks. Conversely, pressure on bond markets weighed on the utilities and real estate sectors. Against this backdrop, the fund returned +0.1%, underperforming the MSCI World by 1.5 percentage points. This underperformance was primarily due to a structural bias, namely the absence of any exposure to technology. The lack of exposure to materials also detracted in a market driven by gold-mining stocks. Within healthcare, our significant overweight helped cushion the overall market move, although stock selection had a negative impact. Medtech stocks generally responded well to recent earnings releases, notably Alcon (+6%), Abbott (+4%) and Intuitive Surgical (+4%). Health insurers, by contrast, came under pressure, as illustrated by UnitedHealth (-6%), while medtech benefited. Pharmaceuticals also proved resilient, particularly Johnson & Johnson (+4%) and Merck (+13%) following Moderna’s announcement regarding a melanoma vaccine, which also supported life sciences tools companies such as Thermo Fisher (+7%). Conversely, AstraZeneca (-4%) was affected by rumors of a merger with Bristol Myers. Finally, consumer discretionary stocks were hit by higher oil prices and rising long-term US interest rates, with cruise operators such as Royal Caribbean (-15%) and Carnival (-13%) particularly affected. In terms of portfolio activity, the main development was a net reduction in exposure to French risk. In particular, we switched out of Accor and into InterContinental in order to maintain exposure to the hotel theme while reducing country risk. Similarly, AXA was sold, notably in favor of ASR Nederland and Allianz.
Unlike August, September’s monetary policy calendar will be particularly busy: the ECB will meet on September 10 and the FOMC on September 16. The tone adopted at Jackson Hole by Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, who explicitly raised the possibility of further tightening in the absence of sufficient progress in bringing inflation back toward the 2% target, together with Isabel Schnabel’s warnings that inflation is unlikely to return to target at current interest-rate levels, leaves little doubt as to the restrictive stance central banks are likely to communicate. German inflation at 2.9% and the Bund yield rising to 3.32%, its highest level in fifteen years, reflect this shift in market pricing. The favorable scenario hinges on an effective de-escalation in the Strait of Hormuz and a sustained decline in Brent crude below $80, which would allow central banks to hold back. Conversely, the adverse scenario involves continued bond-market pressure, which could further compress the valuation multiples of long-duration growth stocks—precisely the core of the fund’s exposure outside financials.
At the microeconomic level, September is a transitional month between the half-year reporting season and the third-quarter earnings season. Nevertheless, several upcoming events warrant close attention. In pharmaceuticals, the FDA’s ongoing review of camizestrant and AstraZeneca’s efforts to rebuild its cardiovascular pipeline remain the main risk factors. Meanwhile, Vyvgart’s commercial momentum at argenx will determine whether the contribution recorded in August can be repeated. Carnival traditionally reports its fiscal third-quarter results at the end of September. Fuel-price trends and any potential revision to its full-year guidance will be the main areas of focus. Finally, one particularly important catalyst outside the portfolio remains the evolution of expectations for artificial intelligence capital expenditure. A further acceleration in such spending could continue to weigh on the fund’s relative performance and highlights its structural vulnerability to rotations into large-cap technology stocks, to which it has very limited exposure by design.