For the last decade, equities (repackaged and otherwise) have reigned supreme. But in a market where everything might soon start to break, investors have to be more nimble.
Commentators warn that a new default cycle will strip the shine from private debt strategies, but not all managers have been “sitting on their hands”. And the dislocation in commercial real estate is creating new opportunities for savvy managers.
After a punishing innings for her flagship ETF, ARK Invest founder Cathie Wood thinks investors need to stop living in the 70s. This time next year the Fed will be “running in the opposite direction” and deflation will dominate the market.
Multi-strategy separately managed accounts (SMAs) are “taking off like you wouldn’t believe”, according to SQM Research CEO Louis Christopher, but the rapid increase in their use could also be creating a regulatory blind spot.
Having poached a number of high-profile portfolio managers (often at a discount), and with backing from family offices and high net worth investors, new boutique Blackwattle is trying to correct the “inadequacies” of the Australian funds management industry.
Active management might be back in a big way but asset managers need to make sure they’re getting what they pay for: skill, not luck. Figuring out manager style and factor biases is key.
Pandemics, invasions and the return of inflation. If the last few years have shown investors anything, it’s that outrageous predictions can often be anything but.
Sovereign wealth funds have hit pause on their internalisation programs as they discover that they aren’t naturals at private markets investing. And inflation and geopolitics are driving allocations to a broad range of alternative assets.
As a forty-year long bull run fuelled by cheap money screams to a stop, markets are at an inflection point. This time really could be different.
Everybody wants certainty, but it’s the one thing in short supply in markets today.
