The historic milestone reached when the white smoke emerged from Brussels and London on 24 December 2020 represents the end of the beginning in the establishment of the new relationship between the UK and EU, rather than an end in itself. Nonetheless, with the lingering threat of a tumultuous no-deal exit now removed, the headwind that this represented to the performance of UK assets has now subsided.
New Zealand has arguably fared better during the global pandemic than any other developed country. While 2021 should see the New Zealand economy continue to fare well, complacency is the biggest risk, both in regards to COVID-19 and global growth, but also in relation to sky-high equity valuations, both at home and abroad.
Yes, because rising concentration reflects rising valuations for the largest stocks, which are likely to serve as a headwind to index returns. Further, the growing market share of these companies increases the potential for rising regulatory oversight.
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.
Global equity markets declined in aggregate in January, but individual markets varied as emerging markets advanced and developed equivalents fell.
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic caused steep declines in risk markets in first quarter 2020. Safe-haven assets, such as core sovereign bonds and gold, performed strongly during this period and have held on to much of their gains. Large-scale intervention by both monetary and fiscal authorities eventually put a floor under risk markets, driving rapid recoveries and pushing equity markets to new highs.
The risk rally continued in fourth quarter, bolstered by COVID-19 vaccine progress and multiple new stimulus measures.
Global equities ascended to new all-time highs in November, delivering their best monthly return since 1975.
Risk assets generally sold off in October, but investors found little respite in traditional safe-haven assets.
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.