Market Matters: October 31, 2023
Risk assets broadly declined in October.
Risk assets broadly declined in October.
This publication presents manager performance for 37 asset classes and substrategies, showing the median, mean, and key percentiles of return. Relevant indexes for each asset class are also included to provide market context.
Risk assets generally declined in Q3 as rising bond yields pressured fixed income and equity performance alike.
This chart book examines historical currency momentum, valuation, and fundamentals in nine key currencies—US dollar (USD), British pound (GBP), euro (EUR), Swiss franc (CHF), Japanese yen (JPY), Australian dollar (AUD), New Zealand dollar (NZD), Canadian dollar (CAD), and Singapore dollar (SGD)—to help investors understand how these currencies behave against other major currencies.
Over the past two weeks, central banks in the United States, United Kingdom, euro area, and Japan have all held monetary policy meetings. The communications following these meetings retained a hawkish bias, suggesting further policy tightening may be necessary—except for the Bank of Japan—however, additional interest rate hikes will likely be much less frequent for the remainder of this cycle. Despite this reality, we do not think major central banks will be quick to cut interest rates next year.
Most asset classes declined in August as higher bond yields and mixed economic signals weighed on risk appetite.
Risk assets enjoyed mostly positive returns in fiscal year 2023. Equities rebounded as fears over the severity of a possible recession moderated. Emerging markets equities lagged developed markets as the pace of reopening in China disappointed. Bond performance improved as credit assets posted positive returns but developed markets sovereign bonds struggled. Real assets suffered due to higher interest rates and slowing demand.
Risk assets rallied in July as slowing inflation and pockets of economic resilience supported performance.
Consistently revisiting potential liquidity risk is important work for family investors. To manage liquidity risk, families should employ best practices, monitoring illiquid investments, spending needs, and currency considerations. By doing so, they can guard against unanticipated stressors and remain on track to achieve their investment goals.
Performance was mixed in second quarter as several crosscurrents painted an uncertain outlook.