Market Matters: October 31, 2023
Risk assets broadly declined in October.
Equities
US Manager Universe Statistics: Second Quarter 2023
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.
VantagePoint: Asia Opportunities Amid Shifting Geopolitics – Part II
The shifting geopolitical realities between the United States and China have already impacted trade and investment flows. In this two-part series of VantagePoint, we review this reality and consider investment implications alongside those of other key factors—such as domestic structural developments, macroeconomic conditions, and valuations. In Part I, we focused on opportunities in China specifically. In this companion piece, we discuss investment opportunities beyond China.
VantagePoint: Asia Opportunities Amid Shifting Geopolitics – Part I
The shifting geopolitical realities between the United States and China have already impacted trade and investment flows. In this two-part series of VantagePoint, we review this reality and consider investment implications alongside those of other key factors—such as domestic structural developments, macroeconomic conditions, and valuations. In Part I, we focus on opportunities in China specifically, and in Part II, we discuss other Asian investment opportunities beyond China.
Israel-Hamas War Highlights the Importance of Diversification
The devastating loss of life resulting from Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel is at the forefront of our concerns. Risk of a prolonged conflict in the region has grown, creating a new layer of uncertainty on many fronts, including the global economy and markets.
Market Matters: September 30, 2023
Risk assets generally declined in Q3 as rising bond yields pressured fixed income and equity performance alike.
Key Central Bank Policy Rates Approach Cyclical Peak
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.
Do Recent Upward Revisions to the United Kingdom’s GDP Mean the Outlook Is Brighter?
No. Although GDP revisions showing that the UK economy recovered more quickly and strongly from the COVID-19 period than was initially thought are welcome, the country faces headwinds to growth in the coming quarters. We continue to recommend holding UK equities at benchmark weights.
Market Matters: August 31, 2023
Most asset classes declined in August as higher bond yields and mixed economic signals weighed on risk appetite.
Will Japanese Equities Continue to Outperform?
No, we do not think it is likely that Japanese equities can meaningfully outperform in the near term, given growing headwinds from the slowing global manufacturing cycle, possible monetary tightening, and potential Japanese yen strength.