Highlights of the current edition
The past quarter was very supportive for global equities and credit as central banks and governments provided enormous amounts of stimulus, and policymakers started to loosen lockdown measures.
On the back of this supportive environment, and given the brutal sell-off in the first quarter of 2020, global equity markets enjoyed a stellar comeback.
In previous economic crises, the Fed only intervened in the treasury and mortgage market. This time around, its shopping list has also included corporate bonds, and even high yield bonds.
Nothing reflects the severity of the exogenous COVID-19 shock better than the fact that the most prominent economic indicators were as bad as during the Great Depression in 1929.
We were fortunate to re-enter equity markets early in the second quarter 2020 as broad-based fiscal and monetary support, coupled with overly bearish investor expectations, offered attractive entry levels.
We retain our constructive view on equities, but would focus on sectors with a high degree of economic resilience such as Technology, Healthcare, or Consumer Staples.
We continue to hold onto our strategic position in inflation-protected government bonds since the risk-reward of this asset class still looks compelling.
