Abenomics at a glance Referring to the economic policies advocated by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe since his victory in the 2012 general election, Abenomics consists of three arrows: aggressive monetary policies, fiscal consolidation and a growth strategy. The key aim
It’s as if nothing happened. At the time of writing, the MSCI AC World index in EUR is up 8% since a year ago, which is very close to our long-term equilibrium equity return estimate of 7%. Yet, in the
An upside-down market is a market in which good news functions as bad news and bad news functions as good news. The force that turns markets upside-down is policy. News, good or bad, triggers a countervailing policy response with effects
ESG disclosures: the bedrock of the sustainable finance agenda At Invesco, we consider environmental, social and governance issues (ESG) not only as financially material considerations but a core part of long-term value creation. And we are not alone- asset managers
Macroeconomic Scenarios and Expected Returns 2021 – 2024 In these uncertain and challenging times, it has never been more important for investors to tune out the background noise and commotion of the daily news flow and assess the longer-term opportunities
Institutional Investing in Agriculture – More than $100b AUM in Agriculture1 with $33b in Farmland(2) – Amount raised in agricultural funds doubled …
At Calvert, we have long considered corporate governance assessments an integral part of company research because they can be an indicator of how well a company identifies material environmental and social factors and manages associated …
Flash Update Liquidity took a central stage during the Covid-19 sell-off. As such, Covid-19 should serve as a wake-up call for investors with regard to the role of liquidity in portfolios. At UBP Global & Absolute Return Fixed Income team,
Multi-Asset Solutions EMEA Summary for the week ending on Friday, 25 September Last week began on a down note, with the renewed rise in coronavirus cases in Europe and several other concerns weighing on sentiment. Prospects for Democrats and Republicans
Research & Strategy Insights The sense of disappointment on the state of the recovery is particularly acute in Europe, where the traditional macro indicators, such as the PMIs or the forward-looking components of the national surveys, are already pointing to
Monthly Op-ed The recent dataflow is consistent with our base case: the world’s economy is not experiencing a “V-shape” recovery, but rather is following a “swoosh” trajectory in which after an initial spectacular rebound, growth slows. Focus is again on
Aerial View Over the past 20 years, academics, policymakers and market participants have begun to debate the future of the US dollar (USD) as the world’s premier reserve currency, or the currency in which global …
Global Macro Monthly US President Donald Trump has already laid claim to the fastest economic recovery in US history. In terms of quarterly growth rates, this will surely be the case. Following the steepest contraction on record, data in Q2
Uncommon truths I have long expected Joe Biden to be elected as the next president of the US. I believe the stock market implications are less than many fear but not all sectors will be impacted in the same way.
All-time low interest rates in Brazil are driving savings into equities, while deregulation and faster technological adoption are creating high growth opportunities for stock pickers. It is true that there is often no free lunch in investing, meaning that high
Miners Remain Undervalued Despite Gold’s Run The strong gains of July carried on to early August. Gold reached an all-time high of $2,070 per ounce on 6 August amid U.S. dollar weakness and new lows in treasury yields. Gold then
#39 September is a busy month for webinar-watchers! A lot of subjects are discussed, for example “Modern Monetary Theory” or “Small Caps“. A lot of research was posted last week and in this blogpost we will highlight a few we
Our August 2019 paper entitled “STOXX ESG-X Indices” noted that sustainable investing – which we define as also covering related terms such as responsible investing and socially responsible investing – recorded global growth of 15% per annum between 2012 and
Growth in energy markets slowed in 2019 in line with weaker economic growth and a partial unwinding of some of the one-off factors that boosted energy demand in 2018.This slowdown was particularly evident in the US, Russia and India, each
Especially as long-term investors, we need to understand the financial risks around climate change and the implications of that risk for investing. Speaking about climate change in the language of financial risk neutralizes concerns around social or moral agendas.
Understanding personal behaviours and motivations when investing is important to help make the right decisions – especially when external pressures are at play. People who invest are faced with countless decisions about which investments to choose, each with …
Can you quickly explain to us what the circular economy is? The circular economy is defined in opposition to the classical linear economy. The latter is based on the three-phase extractfabricate-dispose notion, which draws on …
Emerging markets (EMs) are on the front lines of climate change, facing challenges that could hamper economic development and jeopardise human health and capital assets. Physical climate risks such as extreme heat, droughts, supernormal rain events, water scarcity and poor
Society’s data usage has been growing exponentially for decades,1 but the lockdown measures imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic have placed even greater emphasis on the importance of digital connectivity. Tim Perry looks at the investment opportunities and challenges associated with
Viewpoints from the Global Investment Committee While each election season is unique, this year’s is unprecedented. The global pandemic has been the dominant driver of the economy and financial markets, and will surely figure prominently in the election’s outcome. As
Equities | September 2020 Following an eight-year term, Shinzo Abe announced he will stand down as Prime Minister of Japan due to a deterioration in his physical health. Japan’s Topix Index dropped around 2.5% in reaction to the news on
Interpretive Analysis and Insights During the last quarter of 2018, major U.S. indices plunged approximately 20% from their peaks of end of late August/early October. In 2019, they recovered and reached new highs. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial
After more than a decade of below‑target inflation in the U.S., some investors are speculating that inflation may finally rise due to the magnitude of monetary stimulus coinciding with fiscal stimulus supporting the economic recovery from the coronavirus‑induced …
T. Rowe Price Insights on Global Technology We believe the sector’s long-term growth stories remain strong. The recent pullback in technology stocks strikes us as a normal bout of profit taking after the sector’s strong run. Although the broad-based sell-off can
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has long been the go-to metric for assessing countries' development trajectories. In turn, investors are largely judged …
Change may be the only constant over the coming months. We believe investors will need to be dynamic in striking a balance between managing risks and seizing opportunities. Since we published our last outlook, many of the dynamics we observed
T. Rowe Price Insights on the U.S. Election U.S. election could impact ailing municipal budgets. Municipal bond markets have largely recovered from the sharp, liquidity‑driven sell‑off that occurred at the height of the market’s response to …
In the 1970s, the tiny Pacific island of Nauru had the highest income per head in the world after Saudi Arabia. The money has come from intensive mining of its ample phosphate reserves, built up over countless years by the
Active Credit Allocation in Portfolios Jon Mawby discusses the advantages of active credit allocation in portfolios now that government bonds no longer serve their traditional purpose. Governments have launched massive efforts to underpin their economies in the wake of the
Drastic volatility hit the U.S. stock market in the first half of 2020. The S&P 500® declined by 3.1%, with negative returns also posted by the S&P MidCap 400® (-12.8%) and the S&P SmallCap 600® (-17.9%). The S&P 500 reached
The Fed announced an inflection of its long-term objectives by making the 2% inflation threshold not a high limit, but an average objective over time, i.e. it will not harden not its monetary policy in the event of one-off inflation
Counterpoint Global Insights Expectations and the Role of Intangible Investments
Renewed equity market volatility highlights the need for portfolio breadth. U.S. markets have sold off sharply after reaching record highs, driven by a correction in large‑cap technology stocks. With equity markets showing resilience throughout the summer, investors have raised concerns about market
While ETFs have been available in Europe since 2000, in the 10 years following the Global Financial Crisis we have seen a boom in ETF asset growth. Over this period, ETFs in Europe have seen a compounded annual growth rate
Weekly commentary We see a higher inflation regime in the medium term after a decade of inflation persistently undershooting central bank targets. Three new forces are at play: rising global production cost, new central bank policy frameworks that allow for …
Like a long-running TV series, the latest season of the Brexit saga brings new drama and tension. Like all good drama, there are twists and turns in the plot, unclear motivations of key characters, complexity and new set-piece showdowns. Last
Most U.S. Treasury yields increased modestly last week, led by longer maturities. The Federal Reserve (Fed) disappointed investors, as it did not expand long-duration asset purchases as some had hoped. The …
Last week started off on a strong note, helped by news on Monday of Gilead Sciences’ USD 21 billion acquisition of Immunomedics and chipmaker Nvidia’s USD 40 billion purchase of ARM Holdings. Software giant Oracle reported on …
Some regions of Europe are returning to lockdown – for instance some districts of Madrid badly hit by the second wave of the pandemic. Yet, for now these lockdowns are very different from the ones imposed in March and April:
The current challenging market environment suggests a greater need than ever for alternatives. Hedge funds, which target differentiated, positive absolute returns, provide clear potential benefits. However, institutional investors have …
Market Flash All eyes were on central banks. As expected, the Fed left its rates unchanged. It even said they would not move until inflation rose above 2% and stayed there for some time, a situation it does not expect
Lazard Sustainability Talks The supply and demand shocks precipitated by COVID-19 will dissipate in the coming months and years, but there are reasons to believe the virus may have longer-lasting impacts, notably on the rate and direction of globalisation. The
Investment Perspective The relentless run in risk assets over the last five months finally faded a bit in early September, as the S&P 500 fell nearly 8% and the tech-heavy NASDAQ fell 11%. This year’s returns have been heavily influenced
The Important Role of Active Management in Defined Contribution Plans While active management has always played an important role in retirement plans, the COVID19 crisis has added new layers of complexity to the active versus passive debate. We observe a
The European real-estate debt market has changed dramatically since the Global Financial Crisis, with bank lending activity – constrained by regulatory capital and oversight – creating a structural opportunity for non-bank lenders to exploit. As such, we believe European commercial
