After a lengthy review, Britain’s House of Lords has finally said that the inflation index presently used to price inflation-linked securities, train fares or student loans should be replaced. Instead, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) should become the new benchmark, as it includes more items and has an overall higher credibility. So far, so good – except if you are an investor.
The statistics b…
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Although world markets depend more on Fedspeak and China than on British politics, when the UK House speaker announced (in traditional centuries-old fashion) that the “noes” opposing the government’s Brexit plan had won – inadvertently, he helped reduce sugar levels in Europe. Investors’ interpretation that a hard or disorderly departure from the EU is now less likely strengthened the pound and…
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Emerging Markets (EM) debt had a torrid 2018 as global macro risks (including general geopolitics and trade wars), softer EM growth and idiosyncratic stories (Argentina, Turkey), all repriced relatively expensive valuations at the beginning of the year. Are the new prices a better reflection of fundamentals? This will largely depend on the evolution of 5 key topics.
Goldilocks, one of investors’ favourite economic scenarios, seems to have returned in the new year after almost vanishing in 2018: a strong US jobs report and dovish comments from US Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Jerome Powell have reinstated the not-too-hot, not-too-cold environment that combines relatively low rates and good-enough economic growth – supporting risk assets. US High Yield spreads…
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The new year has started with a blunt reminder of probably everything that investors wanted to forget over the holiday season: economic data is worsening while the oil price continues to fall, dragging down equities and the most equity-like fixed income asset classes. Traditional safe-havens continue to rally, as they did in 2018.
The year left behind ended far worse than it started: after a st…
Read the article2018 will be a year that most investors may want to forget – please watch M&G fund manager Stefan Isaacs review the year and discuss what 2019 might bring.
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Despite big headlines and price swings, most fixed income asset classes ended the five-day period back where they started. This moderate, short-term mean-reversion reflects contradictory views and general confusion over the outcome of the US-China trade negotiations, Europe’s national deficits and Brexit. The world-benchmark 10-year Treasury yield has reflected this mood, dropping to 2.85%, dow…
Read the articleWhilst you can make some strong arguments for the negative returns from 90% of asset classes in 2018 based on the return of populist politics – think of Brexit, Italy’s political instability, AMLO’s election in Mexico and tariffs everywhere – the answer to those negative returns might be simpler: the de facto global discount rate, the 2-year US Treasury bond yield, has risen by almost 100 basis…
Read the articleMany investors will be willing to see 2018 end soon, given the recent market sell-off. But are asset prices truly reflecting the underlying economic fundamentals? Click here to watch M&G Investment Director Laura Frost challenge some of the present market assumptions.
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