Applied Research

Despite ongoing central-bank claims that the current spike in inflation is “transitory,” the recent surge in oil prices to 7-year highs, combined with ongoing supply shortages across many industries, suggests otherwise.

The mood of investors in Q3 2021 was decidedly undecided—and increasingly skeptical. Questions about the strength of the economic recovery, persistent inflationary pressures, the world’s ability to overcome the pandemic, and the timing of any tapering efforts by major central banks kept sentiment on the negative side of the neutral zone.

In Q3, risk rose slightly in the US, somewhat more in Emerging Markets, Japan and Australia, and substantially in China and Asia ex-Japan.

A Qontigo analysis shows that the DAX enlargement contributed to the German benchmark’s diversification, decrease in concentration, stability and market representation, and resulted in relatively limited changes to style exposures. In most cases, those changes were not of significant nature.

The votes from Germany’s federal election have been counted, but the result was far from decisive. We may be weeks, or even months, away from knowing who will succeed Angela Merkel as the next chancellor.

In our latest whitepaper, Inflation and Its Impact on the Stock-Bond Correlation, we examined the historical interaction of equity and bond-market returns over the last 60 years to identify the main triggers of shifts in their relative directions—especially situations that might prompt the two asset classes to persistently move together. We identified three possible scenarios.

In this paper, we examine the historical interaction of equity and bond-market returns—both in the recent past and over the last 70 years—in an effort to identify the main triggers of shifts in their relative directions.

This whitepaper evaluates two thematic investment strategies – STOXX® Global Ageing Population (“Ageing Population”) and STOXX® Global Millennials (“Millennials”) – which seek exposure to these two distinct generations.

Last year, 2020, the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic was replaced by the certainty of monetary and fiscal stimulus, the somewhat messy but essentially positive US presidential election results, and the clear sector allocation choice between the so-called pandemic profiteers versus the pandemic sufferers. Even the multiple vaccine news in early November pointed the way to a rotation trade with bright neon lights. This made 2020 the year of Go-Big-or-Go-Home. The first half of 2021 has been a very different story.

Using our portfolio construction tools combined with Redpoint’s forecasted dividend yield, alpha signal and local market expertise, we developed an optimized income methodology.

In this paper we analyzed four tech-oriented thematic indices’ performance and risk through a factor lens leveraging Axioma’s Worldwide Fundamental Factor Model, and also compared their characteristics to the broad market indices.

While the US market has hit multiple record highs in 2021, investor sentiment thus far has been more negative than positive.