Investment Outlook (Q4/2018)

The Investment Outlook for the fourth quarter of 2018 has been published.
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email
Graphs-reports

“Your net worth to the world is usually determined by what remains after your bad habits are subtracted from your good ones.”

Benjamin Franklin

Macro Environment

  • Inflation pressure in developed markets is picking up slightly
  • European recovery looses momentum
  • US sentiment & confidence remain intact
  • Emerging markets growth remains robust while confidence numbers are falling

Outlook and Markets

  • Valuations remain stretched
  • Trade frictions between the US and China, increase and threaten to escalate further
  • Fed still on track to tighten further but might be forced to change stance due to trade frictions

Main Investment Calls

  • Remain cautious and keep a neutral position of the return and income portion in the model portfolio
  • Maintain an overweight in Cash
  • Equities over Sovereign Bonds
  • Emerging over Developed Equities
  • EMD and Investment Grade Credit over Sovereign Bonds
  • TIPS as an (unexpected) inflation hedge

Main Risks

  • Full scale trade war between the US and China escalating also on a political level
  • Higher than expected inflation in the US, coupled with substantially increased spending leads to more than the expected rate hikes by the Fed and choke off economic momentum, leading to a possible recession
  • Budget dispute between Italy and the EU escalates further and morphs into a Euro Crisis 2.0
  • Risks of policy missteps as China continues the attempt to rebalance its economy to a more domestically supported one and impose too strict regulatory frameworks on banks

To receive the full Investment Outlook, please subscribe to our mailing list below.

Subscribe to our publications

We regularly post articles and updates that are relevant for you. Sign up for free to stay up to date.

en_USEnglish