Latest Quarterly Insights

Analytics | Portfolio Risk Management
Qontigo Insight Q2 2022 Quarterly Risk Highlights: Higher volatility and correlations led to soaring risk, and equity investors sought stability and low beta
Most markets fell and risk increased in Q2 and YTD. US (Large and Small Cap) had the most negative returns, but Australia and Canada experienced the largest increases in predicted volatility (although are still at the low end of the risk spectrum).

Analytics | Portfolio Risk Management
Qontigo Insight Q1 2022 Quarterly Risk Highlights: War + inflation drove risk up, while factor returns and correlations were remarkably stable
Most markets fell in Q1, although commodity-dependent indices such as Canada did eke out small gains. Risk was up across the board and is higher than it was a year ago in most indices. US SH risk is in the 87th percentile relative to history.

Analytics | Portfolio Risk Management
Qontigo Insight Q4 2021 Quarterly Risk Highlights: High returns, continued risk decoupling and factors behaving as expected
Last quarter we discussed how markets seem to have decoupled. That has continued in Q4 as risk rose in the US (now among the riskiest markets but just around its long-term median) but was flat or fell in others.

Analytics | Portfolio Risk Management
Qontigo Insight Q3 2021 Quarterly Risk Highlights: It is remarkable how unremarkable the risk environment turned out to be
In Q3, risk rose slightly in the US, somewhat more in Emerging Markets, Japan and Australia, and substantially in China and Asia ex-Japan.

Analytics | Portfolio Risk Management
Qontigo Insight Q2 2021 Quarterly Risk Highlights: The “New Normal” is Back to the “Old Normal”(Or BTTON)
Risk fell again across most indices in Q2 – US short horizon risk finally retraced its path back to where it stood before the 2020 crisis. Almost all components of risk contributed to the decline.

Analytics | Portfolio Risk Management
Qontigo Insight Q1 2021 Quarterly Risk Highlights: Internal Rotation While Markets Maintained a Steady Upward Path and Risks Diverged
In Q1, most markets continued to build on the gains achieved in 2020, while risk changes were mixed across regions.

In a surprising turn of events, most equity markets finished 2020 with sizable gains—and the fourth quarter unquestionably did its part. Benchmark risk continued to slide in Q4—except for a blip in November—but still ended the year higher than where it started. Factor returns went wild in Q4 and many regions saw outsized returns for the year.

Analytics | Portfolio Construction
Qontigo InsightTM Quarterly Risk Highlights Q3 2020: Calmer Seas Prevail, but Uncertain and Choppy Waters Remain
The global equity market recovery continued in the third quarter, as benchmark risk slid. But not all components of risk participated in the decline, and volatility remained much higher than it was when the year started.

Analytics | Portfolio Risk Management
Qontigo InsightTM Quarterly Risk Highlights Q2 2020: The Storm After the Storm? Applied Research
Equity markets posted one of the best quarters in more than a decade, but most were not able to cross into black territory for the year.

Analytics | Portfolio Risk Management
Qontigo InsightTM Quarterly Risk Highlights Q1 2020: The Corona Quarter
The first quarter of 2020 came in roaring like a lion and went out like a (slaughtered) lamb. After stock indices were pushing new records in the first half of the quarter, the bloodbath in equities that followed not only ended the longest-running bull market in the US history, but also threw indices worldwide into a bear market.

Analytics | Portfolio Risk Management
Qontigo InsightTM Quarterly Risk Highlights Q4 2019: Markets celebrating! But Factor Investors? Not So Much…
2019 was a remarkable year, with benchmarks around the world climbing to new records, while volatility plunged. Both emerging and developed markets shared in the overperformance, with all components of risk falling for both markets. However, style factors saw mixed results, with few reporting outsized returns for the quarter or year.

Analytics | Portfolio Risk Management
Qontigo InsightTM Quarterly Risk Highlights Q3 2019: Market risk changed little… But a lot happened under the hood
Markets around the globe wavered over the past three months, but the decade-long global bull market endured in the third quarter. Despite the market’s gyrations, risk was little changed, with most major indices seeing only a relatively small rise in risk from the end of the second quarter to the end of the third quarter. Nonetheless, a lot has happened beneath the surface.