Company: SWZ
Filing Date: 2025-03-11
Form Type: N-CSR
Source: 0001839882-25-014961
Chunk: 5

Company: Total Return Securities Fund
Filing Date: 2025-03-11
Form: N-CSR
Chunk 5
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 Compagnie Financiere Richemont DKSH Givaudan Julius Baer Logitech Lonza Medacta Nestle Novartis Partners Group R&S Roche Sandoz Sonova Swiss Life Swissquote Tecan VZ Holding Ypsomed Zurich Insurance 5 THE SWISS HELVETIA FUND, INC. The Fund established new positions in Also, Galderma, Georg Fischerand Straumann. Alsois a leading provider of information and communication technology solutions. Alsooffers hardware, software, cloud-based digital platforms, and additional IT services and solutions. Also’send markets are growing rapidly as small, medium and large companies invest in services that Alsooffers due to the increased complexity of the overall IT environment. We believe Alsowill benefit from trends towards hybrid cloud solutions, as well as Artificial Intelligence. Galdermais a leading dermatology specialist that went public on SIX Swiss Exchange on March 22, 2024. The Fund participated in the IPO of Galderma. We believe the business model of Galdermais convincing, and the end markets indicate good growth. IPOs of private equity-held companies can at times be unpredictable. However, after the announcement of the transaction details, our valuation model led us to conclude that the transaction would take place at an attractive price. Since its IPO in March, Galderma’sshare price has nearly doubled, making it one of the strongest positive contributors to the Fund’s relative performance. Georg Fischeris a quality industrial company. Over the past several years, its management has shifted the business focus towards the segment of piping, giving it less weight in the automotive industry. We believe Georg Fischer’slatest acquisition of Uponorcould lead to synergy potential and, thus, improved profitability that should benefit shareholder value. Straumannis a world leading player in the dental replacement and correction market. Straumannhas in the past experienced strong growth, and it has diversified its business in terms of applications and geography. The Fund’s position was bought after some stock price weakness following its first quarter result. The Fund sold its entire positions in Forbo, Idorsiaand SoftwareOne. Forbowas sold before it reported a disappointing first half result because of the challenging market environment for its two businesses. As a result of declining volumes, some factories ran below capacity. Management has stated that it addressed the issues, but we think Forbowill need more time until profits can grow again. Idorsiawas sold as it did not meet the expected progress in terms of sales of its main products.