Probability-based investment modelling for professional and institutional investors
If the fall of the Berlin Wall was supposed to be the end of history, the invasion of Ukraine may well mark the rebirth of geography in investment markets. Equity returns in Europe are being impacted by country specific factors beyond the usual mix of sector effects. We see the potential for new definitions of core and periphery in Eurozone bond markets and there are many emerging equity markets in Latin America and SE Asia which are not affected by the war, even the asset class as a whole is (China, Russia, Eastern Europe). The thing which hasn’t changed is the momentum of US earnings growth.
Our recommended weight for Chinese equities has just hit its all-time low since the beginning of this century. They have been in extreme underweight territory for their longest period ever. We think this is more than a temporary misunderstanding. It could represent the breakdown of the pro-China consensus that has dominated US investment thinking for over a decade. There may be parallels with what happened when the US became disillusioned with Russia 10 years ago. US investors who want international equity diversification will be forced to have another look at Europe.
With very few exceptions, our main risk-appetite indicators are at or close to maximum risk-on. We see evidence of peaking behaviour in global equities vs global fixed income, in US Credit, and cyclicals vs defensives in the US, Japan and the UK. There is one indicator – Italian vs German government bonds – which is already past its peak. Most investors understand this and intend to use any correction as a buying opportunity. However, it still makes sense to take some risk off the table now, if only to put it back on at a lower price. We are also concerned that investors may be ignoring an uptick in geo-political risk.
Many investors, brought up on the Tequila crisis of 1994, or the Thai baht crisis of 1997, or others too numerous to mention, may be surprised to see EM Sovereign Bonds at the top of our euro asset allocation model and at #2 in the US$ version. Times have changed. The volatility of the EM bond portfolio (but not necessarily individual countries) is less than 7-10 year Treasuries and the yield is a lot higher. They deserve their ranking.
Even if the macro outlook is uncertain, there are still several important messages that can be gleaned from the detail of our equity sector models. The three we highlight concern US Energy, Global Utilities and European Consumer Goods. Our models can never prove any investment thesis, but they can suggest interesting lines of enquiry.
Newspapers like to argue that events are unforecastable, which is why you need to pay for access to news. We agree that forecasts don’t really work, but we don’t think news does either. We think that prices move before news. Very often the change in price is the news.