The quest for uncorrelated returns can be an expensive pursuit, especially in terms of opportunity cost.
The rise and fall in popularity of absolute return funds is a case in point. For years, the Targeted Absolute Return sector was among the most popular among UK and European fund buyers, but… Read the article
You may have seen charts like the one below before (possibly here or here) which suggest that investors and commentators find more to worry about than they really should:
This certainly seems to have been the case for bulk of… Read the article
As Theresa May remarked in her resignation speech, her successor will face the same challenge of finding consensus over Brexit within Parliament. So far Westminster has been able only to express what it doesn’t want, and has failed to coalesce around a way forward. The path ahead remains as uncertain… Read the article
It is often easier to conceptualise ESG considerations when making investments at a corporate level. A company’s activities are often relatively narrow in focus, and forming a direct link between the company and those activities that we don’t support (polluting, gambling, smoking, drinking and so on) or those that we… Read the article
While markets were closed in Japan, Korea, Thailand and the UK yesterday, stock markets in other regions ‘plunged’ (there’s that word again) on a re-emergence of trade war fears.
Domestic Chinese markets were the hardest hit, with some impact on neighbouring countries.
The… Read the article
In 2018, almost all major asset class categories delivered negative returns:
So far in 2019, almost all major assets have done the opposite:
This degree of correlation is unusual. Some described last year as the worst on record in terms of correlated negative… Read the article
Our sense at the end of 2018 was that the volatility being seen in markets at that time was episodic in nature. Yes, there were things to be worried about from a growth standpoint, but the rapidity and nature of price moves suggested that… Read the article
Earlier this week the IMF released its latest economic outlook. It was the debut of the newly appointed and first female IMF chief economist, Gita Gopinath.
She observed that “While global growth in 2018 remained close to post crisis highs, the global expansion is weakening”. Indeed, the… Read the article
The liquidity of an asset is the extent to which it can be bought or sold without affecting its price. In extreme market conditions especially, investors trying to sell illiquid assets may be forced to accept drastically reduced prices to find a buyer quickly (or at all). A lesson learned… Read the article
The last quarter of 2018 saw some significant equity weakness, which came in two bouts:
In October, price weakness emerged in response to rising rate expectations in the US. However, any investors hoping that an abatement of those pressures would support equity markets were to be disappointed.
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OKWelcome to the M&G Multi Asset Team’s Allocation blog, previously known as the Episode blog. We have changed the name of our blog to resonate better with our readers in Europe, however, the content and purpose of the blog has not changed. The Allocation blog continues to aim to provide unique market perspectives from our dedicated team of experienced asset allocators.
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