Market Matters: December 31, 2021
Risk assets surged in fourth quarter, capping off a year of impressive gains.
Risk assets surged in fourth quarter, capping off a year of impressive gains.
A compilation of our investment views for 2022.
Long-dated government bond yields rose in 2021 on strong economic growth and surging inflation. Central banks have maintained their easy money policies despite the rapid recovery in economic conditions, likely keeping yields lower than they would have been otherwise. This may soon change now that several major central banks are starting the process of dialing back support.
Low yields on many liquid credit assets curbed returns in 2021, a trend that seems likely to continue in 2022.
Diversifying private credit strategies provide a good complement to portfolio mainstays. While we believe the economic outlook remains strong, it is not without risks. In direct lending, growing amounts of dry powder are pressuring deal structures and pricing. As a result, we anticipate that commitments to less-correlated private credit funds, such as those focused on life sciences, asset-based lending, and flexible credit strategies, will increase next year.
Risk assets sold off in November as pandemic-related developments introduced new uncertainties to the economic outlook.
We view private credit as an underused and effective tool that can help a broad array of investors meet their objectives.
Global equities delivered their highest monthly gains this year in October, driven by US equities.
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.
Yes. In recent weeks, several Chinese property developers have defaulted, and spreads on Chinese high-yield bonds have widened roughly 600 basis points (bps), taking their year-to-date loss to 18%.