AMF Balansfond posted a negative return of 1.3 percent during the first quarter of the year, underperforming its benchmark index by approximately 0.7 percentage points.

The year began on a relatively strong note with rising equity markets, where Asian and European stocks in particular performed well. During the period, the fund reached a peak return of 4 percent, outperforming its benchmark by roughly 0.3 percentage points.

In late February, the US and Israel initiated military operations against Iran, which responded by closing the Strait of Hormuz. This led to a sharp spike in oil and gas prices and falling stock markets, especially in Asia and Europe, as well as rising interest rates amid concerns that surging energy costs would fuel inflation.

The fund maintained an average equity overweight of approximately 7 percentage points, which yielded a marginally negative contribution during the first quarter. Tactical allocation through shifts in equity weighting and the fund's regional allocation contributed positively to the total return during the period.

The management of Swedish equities resulted in a negative contribution of approximately 0.6 percentage points. Foreign equity management also detracted from performance by about 0.1 percentage points. Conversely, the management of fixed-income assets contributed positively to the fund's alpha by approximately 0.4 percentage points during the period.

Within Swedish equities, the pharmaceutical company Sobi was among the positive contributors to returns in the first quarter of 2026. Positive contributions also came from Volvo, which raised its market forecast, and Ericsson, which continued to improve profitability.

Among the weaker contributors was Indutrade, as serial acquirers generally faced market headwinds. The fund's underweights in Sandvik and Telia also weighed on returns during the period.

In foreign equities, the fund's top contributors were Western Digital, Comfort Systems, Total Energies, and TSMC. The largest negative contributions came from Microsoft, Tencent, Salesforce, Samsung Electronics, and Alibaba.

The market environment is currently dominated largely by the developments of the war in the Middle East. A long-term peace solution could reactivate the positive scenario seen at the beginning of the year, while a protracted conflict risks significant negative effects on growth and price stability.

After scaling back the equity portion, the fund has once again returned to an overweight position of just over 7 percent relative to the benchmark index.