A large asset manager recently made some big changes in its investment portfolio.
DNB Asset Management bought moreApple(ticker: AAPL) andNIO(NIO) shares, initiated an investment inLi Auto(LI), and halved a position inIntel(INTC) in the second quarter. The unit of Norway’s largest financial-services firm DNB disclosed the trades ina form it filedwith the Securities and Exchange Commission.
DNB Asset, which managesmore than $70 billion in assets, declined to comment on the investment changes.
DNB Asset bought 423,239 additional Apple shares to end the second quarter with 3.9 million shares of the iPhone maker.
Apple stock trailed the market in the first half of 2021, managing a gain of 3.2% while theS&P 500 indexrose 14.4%. So far in July, however, shares have added 6.0%, compared with the 1.7% gain in the index.
Apple gained some tailwinds as investors turned their attention to apotential fall launchof the next iPhone. Last month, we named Apple’s Tim Cook to ourlist of best CEOs. The company, along with other big-tech peers, isfacing renewed regulatory scrutiny.
DNB Asset bought 582,664 more NIO American depository receipts to end June with 618,585 ADRs of the Chinese maker of electric vehicles. The asset manager also initiated a position in Chinese EV peer Li Auto with the purchase of 14,299 ADRs; DNB Asset didn’t own anyat the end of March.
NIO and Li Auto ADRs rose 9.2% and 21.2%, respectively, in the first half, but they have respectively slipped 14.4% and 8.9% in July, We’ve noted thatsome weakness this monthin both Chinese EV makers is due to that country’sregulatory pressureon Didi Global (DIDI), a ride-sharing company that recently listed in the U.S. Both NIO and Li Autohave beenreportingstrong deliveries.
DNB Asset sold 722,908 Intel shares in the second quarter, slashing its investment to 809,214 shares of the chip giant. Intel stock rose 12.7% in the first half of the year, and has been essentially flat so far in July.
Intel said in late June that it wasdelaying the productionof a new chip to the first quarter of next year from late this year. The company, however, has benefited fromstrong PC demand, as homebound office workers upgraded equipment to work online. The company disclosed that itinvested in a payments companyin the first quarter.