Equities

VantagePoint: Investment Opportunities Six Months Into the Pandemic

Economic, market, and healthcare circumstances have been extraordinary over the last six months. However, attractive opportunities exist. We see appeal in tech and tech-enabled businesses but remain cautious on elevated pricing. There’s enough value in relatively cheap segments of public equities to justify taking measured, diversified overweights. We are broadly cautious on credit, but see pockets of opportunity in some segments less supported by central bank activity. Finally, the importance of investing in social equity and diversity has been brought into sharp relief by this crisis.

Review of Market Performance: Fiscal Year 2020

While US-China tensions began to slowly de-escalate in the the first half of FY 2020, the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in the second half upended the investment landscape. Gold and US Treasuries were the big winners as investors rushed into safe havens, while central banks cut rates and expanded QE programs. Equities have mounted a remarkable comeback, while real assets generally remain quite depressed. This chart book presents returns and other market metrics for fiscal year 2020.