Global Capital Aware Fund Update – September

The Insync Global Capital Aware Fund returned 0.95% over the month and has gained 12.90% for the last 12 months to August 2025. Approximately 27% of the fund is covered by index puts on a notional basis.

Alibaba Group was a key contributor to portfolio returns, with shares climbing to their highest level in nearly four years after management unveiled an expanded AI investment roadmap and signalled further deescalation of subsidy-driven competition in mainland China. The launch of its new trillion-parameter
Qwen3-Max model, integration of Nvidia’s Physical AI software stack, and plans to open new data centres across Brazil, France, and the Netherlands reinforced Alibaba’s full-stack approach—spanning
infrastructure, foundation models, and applications—while extending its international footprint. With
Alibaba Cloud delivering 26% year-on-year revenue growth, the strongest among its business divisions, the company continues to emerge as a structural leader in China’s GenAI and cloud evolution. While near-term returns on heavy AI capital expenditure may take time to materialise, September’s rally reflected rising investor confidence in Alibaba’s execution, strategic clarity, and leadership in China’s next technology wave.

ICICI Bank was the largest detractor during the month, as investor sentiment weakened amid stalled trade negotiations between the U.S. and India. While this created near-term uncertainty, the broader
macroeconomic impact appears limited, particularly with negotiations still ongoing. India’s growth remains driven primarily by robust domestic demand, with exports playing a growing but still secondary role. The country’s economic momentum continues to be supported by a diverse range of structural tailwinds — sustained infrastructure investment, an expanding manufacturing base under the “Make in India” initiative, favourable demographics with a young and increasingly skilled workforce, deepening financial inclusion, and rapid digital adoption that continues to enhance productivity. Against this backdrop, ICICI Bank remains one of the best-positioned financial institutions to benefit from India’s multi-year expansion. Despite short-term sentiment pressures from geopolitics and policy uncertainty, the bank’s consistent execution, disciplined capital management, and leverage to India’s enduring structural growth drivers support its long-term value creation potential.

Global equity markets advanced in September, buoyed by renewed optimism surrounding artificial
intelligence despite ongoing geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty. The month underscored the
intensifying AI race between the U.S. and China. In the U.S., technology leaders including Nvidia, Oracle,
Microsoft, and OpenAI announced major new investments and partnerships to scale AI infrastructure and
accelerate model deployment. Meanwhile, China strengthened its push for technological self-sufficiency,
fast-tracking domestic chip innovation and advancing AI monetisation across cloud, enterprise, and
consumer platforms. This parallel escalation in AI investment and innovation supported gains in AI-linked
equities, notably in the U.S., though it also contributed to rising market concentration and narrower
breadth in global equity performance.

Although concerns lingered over softening U.S. labour market data, elevated inflation, and newly
announced sectoral tariffs, investor sentiment was largely supported by the Federal Reserve’s resumption of rate cuts in September. However, with U.S. equity valuations moving further into stretched territory— particularly within the large-cap technology cohort – we remain cautious about the potential for heightened volatility and a sharper correction should sentiment shift. Market optimism may persist for
longer than fundamentals justify, but when it fades, the adjustment could prove abrupt given the narrow
leadership and elevated positioning across key growth names. As such, we continue to identify relatively more atractive opportunities across select international markets, where earnings visibility, valuation discipline, and policy headroom remain stronger. Many non- U.S. regions are benefiting from stabilising inflation trends, improving consumer demand, and resilient corporate balance sheets that have yet to be fully re-rated.

Accordingly, we maintain a measured underweight in U.S. equities, balancing exposure to structural AI
beneficiaries with a diversified allocation to markets offering more reasonable valuations, broader
participation, and superior risk-adjusted return potential.