European fund selectors have been overwhelmingly bullish on absolute return strategy funds as a response to market volatility – but they could have made more returns if they took the risky option of US equities.
European equity funds have lost all of their gains since the beginning of the year as inflation fears and political uncertainty have dominated headlines with the sector average returning virtually 0% over the first five months.
Emerging market fundamentals remain robust in the opinion of many European fund buyers who say a market correction has increased the appeal of the asset class, according to Last Word Research.
Japanese equity funds have lost their appeal to Nordic fund selectors because of concerns about the depreciating yen.
Long term investors should seek out some often overlooked sectors to boost portfolio diversification, according to Morningstar Investment Management. Click through the slides below to find out which five areas it has identified as hidden investment opportunities.
After news of Facebook’s privacy blunder broke last month, all European-domiciled technology focused funds have seen returns fall although two which focus on emerging market tech firms have bucked the trend, according to FE Analytics.
Government policies have boosted appeal of Indian equities and huge country’s interdependence from global trade risks make it attractive long-term bet, according to Blackrock.
Emerging market bond funds are the “sweet spot” when it comes to the search for fixed income yield, according to BlackRock.
In the year of the dog shares of companies based on the Chinese mainland are set to emerge as leaders of the pack for investors in China as the world’s second largest economy enters the MSCI Emerging Markets Index in May. But European investors have already begun to move.
Across Europe absolute return strategies are the asset class most fund selectors wanted to buy even before the recent rise in volatility in bond and equity markets, although the Dutch are not particularly keen on the strategy.
State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) is focusing part of its fixed income portfolio on global convertible bonds due to expectations of higher interest rates and a stronger equity market over the next 12 months, but fund selectors are only mildly interested in the asset class.
Japanese equities had the largest positive shift in net sentiment across pan-European fund selectors during the last quarter, according to Expert Investor research. Click through the slides below to find out more about the views of the industry toward Japanese equities.
