What Worked in 2020? Upwork!

Investors in the Global Shares Fund, managed by Elevation Capital, owned shares in Upwork Inc. [UPWK.NASDAQ], an online marketplace that connects freelancers - including translators, writers, designers and web developers - globally to businesses or individuals that require one-off work.

Elevation Capital purchased Upwork during the 2020 stock market sell-off which began on 20 February and ended on 7 April 2020. This time period was also when Upwork hit its lowest price since its IPO in 2018.

With many workplace and travel closures caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, we recognised the trend of people and businesses engaging in freelance and remote work which we believed Upwork was well-positioned to capitalise on. From May to November in 2020, Upwork saw a +50% increase in corporate and freelancer registrations on its website. Upwork also realised an increase of +24% year-over-year revenue for 20201.  

 Elevation Capital is constantly reviewing the Global Shares Fund’s investment holdings. In February 2021, we were mindful of the fact treasury yields were once again starting to climb, affecting the cost of capital for all our holdings. Accordingly, we made the decision to exit many of our top performers on a total return basis to realise our gains and bolster our cash position within the Fund as we research new investment opportunities.

 The Global Shares Fund exited its entire Upwork investment in February 2021, generating a +398.06% total return for investors in the Global Shares Fund.