Harding Loevner International Small Companies Equity Q1 2026 Commentary
2026-05-20·via All Articles on Seeking Alpha
Summary
The International Small Companies Equity composite fell 4.0% gross of fees in the first quarter, compared with a 0.4% decline in the MSCI ACWI ex US Small Cap Index.
All the International Small Companies Equity portfolio's software and services holdings were affected, accounting for more than three-quarters of our underperformance.
Harding Loevner exited France's Alten and Argentina-based Globant during the quarter as AI poses immediate risks to IT-services businesses reliant on time-and-materials contracts.
Energy was the strongest sector, rising 25%, as stocks in the sector surged following airstrikes on Iran that caused Brent crude to rise more than 60% in March.
Harding Loevner added a new Industrials holding that provides indirect exposure to the metals industry, Ferreycorp, a distributor of Caterpillar mining and construction equipment in Peru.
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Market Snapshot
▪ The MSCI ACWI ex US Small Cap Index ended the quarterly slightly down, as encouraging corporate earnings results at the start of the year were overtaken by concerns about the war in Iran.
