Quicksilver Markets Ted Berg, Office of Financial Research, March 2015 Earlier this year, US equity investors celebrated the current bull market’s sixth anniversary and the tripling of prices that accompanied the uptrend. These heady gains have left equity prices high by historical standards. In a recent article, the US Treasury Department’s research arm notes that…
Chinese equities have captured headlines recently, with trading volumes surging in Hong Kong and the MSCI China Index (which tracks the performance of Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong) rising 14% over four trading days (April 8–13). The catalyst was a decision in late March by mainland Chinese regulators to allow domestic mutual funds to…
Over the past two years, India has come full circle, moving from a member of the so-called Fragile Five economies with poor macro fundamentals to one of the few emerging markets with a positive macro story. India was among the best-performing equity markets in 2014, returning 24% in US$ terms, compared to -1.8% for emerging…
This chart book presents representative marketable and hedge fund manager performance for fourth quarter and calendar year 2014. US Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) managers posted the largest median returns for the fourth quarter (14.2%) and the one-year period ending December 31, 2014 (31.2%).
In many ways, 2014 was a tale of two halves as returns reversed in the second half. Renewed US dollar strength and falling commodity prices were key contributors to the reversal. This brief chart book looks at returns and other market metrics for 2014.
The Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) surprise announcement that it would dramatically ramp up its QE efforts is a tacit admission that “Abenomics” is stalling, and supports our view about the underlying health of the Japanese economy: excessive debt levels, demographics, and overdue structural reforms are serious headwinds to growth. To briefly recap, on October 31…
Though metals and mining equities account for only 17% of the MSCI World Natural Resources Index, their drastic underperformance since 2011 can still be felt in portfolios. Over the last decade, as demand from China and other countries pushed up the slope of demand curves for industrial metals, a supply response by the mining industry…
This chart book presents representative marketable and hedge fund manager performance for third quarter 2014. This quarter US Core Bond, US Bond, and Cash Management managers posted the highest median returns, while Pan-European Equity managers posted the lowest median returns.
The Capital Markets Authority of Saudi Arabia recently announced its intention to open the local equity market to direct investment by qualified foreign investors at some point in 2015. These investors must be reputable and substantial financial institutions that manage a minimum of US$ 5 billion in assets. While foreign investors have obtained economic exposure…
Claims that Europe is becoming the next Japan have grown louder in recent months, after Eurozone GDP growth flat-lined in the second quarter and consumer prices increased just 0.4%, the lowest level in nearly five years. Clear parallels do exist between the current Eurozone macroeconomic environment and that which started to take shape in Japan…