As 2020 comes to a close, we expect some key investment drivers to persist into next year. While our views speak to many different challenges confronting investors, including the poor bond yields on offer, the fate of US-China relations, and where to find growth, they are rooted in the belief that 2021 will be a year of healing for the global economy.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying lockdown measures disrupted billions of lives, inflicted unprecedented economic damage, and caused several significant changes in consumer behavior, corporate decision making, and government policy. Whether these changes will be temporary or permanent remains largely unknown, but as the world adapts to COVID-19 it seems more likely than not that some changes will persist long after the virus has receded. The fourth quarter 2020 edition of Research Digest features three papers discussing potential long-run implications of COVID-19.
Global equities ascended to new all-time highs in November, delivering their best monthly return since 1975.
As many had expected, the US presidential election turned into more of a process than an event.
Risk assets generally sold off in October, but investors found little respite in traditional safe-haven assets.
In an era of historically low interest rates, heightened risk of yield curve steepening complicates pension risk management.
Yes, but the opportunity set is currently limited.
Risk assets rallied again in third quarter, notwithstanding declines in September.
Inflation has moved steadily lower and become more stable globally over the past four to five decades, with average year-over-year G7 headline consumer price inflation down from 8.3% in the 1970s to just 1.5% in the 2010s. A wide range of factors have been linked to the low-inflation environment, including: globalization, demographics, technological change, declining…
This general election will be one of the most unusual in modern history. Investors should not tweak portfolios based on election prognostication.