Fund selectors in Portugal are far from concerned by the world’s equity markets’ rough start to the year. To the contrary, they see the current weakness as an opportunity to further increase their still relatively low exposure to equities.
Equities markets around the world climbed sharply on news of Japan’s surprise decision to cut interest rates into negative territory.
Investors are in disagreement about whether high yield bonds are a good buy now. A quarter of European fund buyers plan to increase their allocation in the next 12 months, but an almost equally big share of them intend to decrease exposure. Fund flows have also been capricious of late.
Steve Kenny talks about the move to diversified, multi-asset funds and the ever-changing demands of European fund selectors.
Investor enthusiasm for multi-asset funds is on the decline. Though asset flows are still positive, they are now at their lowest level since August 2012. Are the heydays of multi-asset funds over?
Global equity markets are experiencing their worst start to the year since 2008. While some are fearing this is the start of a bear market, others believe markets are oversold and equities now look at their most compelling in years. There are valid arguments on both sides, but some seem more right than others.
Iran-focused asset management and private equity group Griffon Capital is quick to take advantage of the lifting of sanctions on Iran. It has launched the Cayman Island-domiciled Griffon Iran Flagship Fund to tap into Iran’s public equity market.
Net flows into hedge funds by European investors decerased only marginally in 2015, according to Evestment data. The US saw strong outflows, contrasting with exponential growth in Asia.
Fund selectors are divided when determining whether having a star manager at the helm is more likely to lead to long-term performance than a team-based approach.
The news over the weekend that the sanctions against Iran have been lifted took very few people by surprise, but the confirmation that the country is back among the global oil-producing fold does bode ill for prices.
They have been the most popular asset class since the final quarter of 2014, but for how long will the European equity mania continue? Saturation is setting in slowly, but at the same time it seems investors are seeing few alternatives to the asset class yet.
Investors are often accused of buying into a trend too late, when markets have already gone up a fair bit. But Europe’s fund buyers are putting on a brave face, and are already planning to move back into emerging market equities before they bounce back.
