2015 saw Spanish investors breaking with their long-standing habit of buying ever more bonds, with bond funds seeing net outflows for 10 out of 12 months last year. However, as government bond yields once again approach record lows, they have reversed course.
The Robeco Global Total Return Bond fund (formerly known as Robeco Rorento) combines the two most important qualities Alvaro Martín Sauto, head of funds-of-funds at Bankia, looks for in a fixed income fund: it can allocate flexibly to various asset classes, but prioritises limiting drawdowns over maximising returns.
The majority of fund buyers in the Basque country and in much of the rest of Europe expect another market correction this year. Fund managers at Expert Investor Spain, held in Bilbao last week, identified China and Brexit as the main possible triggers for this.
Here you can find a selection of photos taken at Expert Investor Spain, held on 15 March 2016 in Bilbao.
Here you can see a selection of photos taken at Expert Investor Spain, held on 4 February in Barcelona.
The start of the year has been rough for equity markets, but investors in Barcelona expect another market plunge before summer. They are also hedging their bets politically, it seems, as the uncertain investment outlook has prompted many to drop their support for independence.
Frank Reisbøl, MD of Banque Carnegie Luxembourg, is always looking for high-conviction, often smaller, managers for his multi-jurisdictional clients. But not those who chase every last basis point, since that could risk his main objective – value preservation.
Emerging market equities have returned to favour with European investors, for as long as it lasts. After 10 straight months of net outflows, money is finally flowing into the asset class again, according to the latest Morningstar fund flows data.
The prospect of Catalonian independence is already weighing on Spanish government bonds now. It will therefore likely remain a source of volatility, and is a force investors need to reckon with, says John McNeill, an unconstrained bond manager at Kames Capital.
Fund selectors in Barcelona, who again turned up in large numbers at the semi-annual Expert Investor Barcelona event last week, are yearning for another round of quantitative easing. They expect QE 2 will mainly benefit the equity markets, and they are selling off their bond holdings in unprecedented amounts.
See below for a slideshow of photos taken at Expert Investor Barcelona on 29 October 2015.
European pension funds have increased their allocation to mutual funds from 19% in 2008 to 31% in 2014, according to a research report by PwC which was commissioned by the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (Alfi).
