The Metaverse. The substitution of reality with the imagined – transporting the participant literally into a whole new world – will become possible for all kinds of products and services.
Bond investors did have a rough time in 2022. But a new era begun when central banks initiated their forced march of interest rates hikes, bringing some fresh opportunities to investors.
European equity markets continued their uptrend over the past four weeks on the back of positive economic surprises and a sharp fall in headline inflation as base effects in energy started to drag. The positive market trend was clearly driven by large caps and defensive growth sectors.
April saw positive performances for risky markets, with equities and convertible bonds outperforming, followed by high yield. Government bonds underperformed across most major markets except Japan. We also saw a recovery of subordinated and CoCo bonds to the detriment of more senior issues.
The market narrative remains very cautious and divided as to the path to follow over the next few quarters. While some investors prefer to look to the encouraging observable data points being published regarding earnings and inflation, many are hanging back, pointing to an inevitable deterioration of consumer spending and liquidity provided by banks to finance the economy.
In our economic and market scenarios, the next stage points to lower growth and gradually lower inflation in the US by the end of 2024. Consequently, lower interest rates should follow, and we keep a long duration bias in fixed income. We expect a soft landing and are buyers of Investment grade credit and Emerging market debt since the carry is attractive in this outcome. Regarding equities, we keep a neutral stance considering the limited upside potential as several uncertainties weigh on the outlook. If risks to the outlook materialise or markets become too complacent, we would stand ready to reduce exposure.
Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation (SFDR), mandatory ESG disclosure obligations, was introduced by the European Union to improve transparency in the market for sustainable investment.
If France relies on its nuclear power, it will not do what is necessary in terms of renewables, says the German side. When it comes to importing disgusting LNG from shale gas or running its coal-fired power plants, Germany is less careful, comes the retort from west of the Rhine.
Nicolas Forest, Equities, Fixed Income, Macro, Asset Allocation
With the upcoming 2023 Turkish presidential election, scheduled to take place on 14 May, we are sharing our views and sentiments on the possible outcomes and their consequences.
Candriam is pleased to announce the appointment of Nicolas Forest, Candriam’s Global Head of Fixed Income since 2013, as its new Chief Investment Officer (CIO), effective on May 1, 2023.
Bond investors did have a rough time in 2022. But a new era begun when central banks initiated their forced march of interest rates hikes, bringing some fresh opportunities to investors.
As the March drama unfolds, it might help us to remember the long road that banks have travelled, and the path ahead. Those paths are very different on either side of the Atlantic.
The once-in-a-generation monetary tightening engineered by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) over the past twelve months has produced financial vulnerabilities.