Shares of Volkswagen are down almost 40% so far this year as a result of its diesel emissions scandal. Xavier Smith, portfolio manager for the Centre Global Select Equity Fund (DHGLX), said the stock is oversold and should come back in the coming year. ‘If you look at the sales figures in October, the month after the scandal occurred, Volkswagen sales in the U.S. were actually flat so it was not as bad as some people were expecting,’ said Smith. ‘If you look in November, the other brands such as Audi and Porsche, which are actually more important to the Volkswagen profit story, were still growing in double digits.’ The Centre Global Select Equity Fund is down 4.6% so far in 2015. Smith is also bullish on shares of Unilever (UL), up 6% year-to-date, saying that bears on the stock are overestimating the effect of weak emerging market currencies on the company’s profits. ‘We think investors are not taking into account the firm’s ability to raise pricing,’ said Smith. ‘If you look at Unilever’s track record in price hikes, they have been able to offset currency losses historically.’ He is bullish on shares of NT&T (NTT), which are up over 50% thus far in 2015. He said the Japanese telecom giant successfully shifted its focus to broadband and mobile telephony and is now reaping the benefits.
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