Probability-based investment modelling for professional and institutional investors
A large rise in excess volatility (equity volatility minus bond volatility) is a good indicator of the onset of a bear market in the US and elsewhere. It also works at the sector level for those sectors which peak early, before the dynamics of contagion take over. Every bear market is different, but there are similarities in the early phases. Apart from Telecom, which is a very small sector, there are no warning signs at the US sector level at the moment.
The fate of the US Energy and Technology sectors may be linked together thanks to the simple mechanics of portfolio construction. Our data suggest that investors may be herded into two large positions relative to the benchmark: a big overweight in Tech and a big underweight in Energy. It will be difficult to reduce one without reducing the other. So a bout of profit-taking in Tech may lead to a bounce in the Energy sector. More importantly, a bounce in the oil price could cause the Tech sector to underperform.
The new ultra-low volatility regime throws up some curious implications for equity sectors. Who knew that US Technology and EU Industrials are now attractive to risk-averse investors? What about Healthcare, which could deliver significant returns if investors were just prepared to give it the benefit of the new paradigm.
Sector recommendations can be stock recommendations in disguise, if performance depends narrowly on one or two large companies. Our overweight recommendations on Financials in the US, the UK and the Eurozone all enjoy broad-based support, as do US and Eurozone Industrials and UK Materials. The overweight calls on US Technology and Eurozone Materials depend heavily on one stock and are therefore lower quality.
Financials are rallying fast, driven by a significant decline in volatility in the US and the UK, which is exactly what our models expect. We don’t know whether this is justified by fundamentals, but we do know that every investor with an underweight position will have to consider reducing the risk relative to benchmark, sooner or later.
Most of the main asset markets are range bound and moving sideways. So this week we focus on equity sectors where there has been a recent turning point in the risk/reward ratio. We also include a few sectors where the trend has clearly not changed even though some investors might wish it had.