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Investors have predominantly relied on developed markets sovereign bonds for defense in balanced portfolios, but low rates have diminished their diversification characteristics.

In this edition of VantagePoint, we explore the historical drivers of the value risk premium to determine if there have been any fundamental changes since 2007, the start of the global financial crisis, and to understand conditions that must be present for a sustained period of value outperformance.

Elevated equity market valuations and potentially rising bond yields suggest the return environment for traditional risk assets could be difficult. Faced with this challenge, institutional investors are seeking alternative sources of return. Alternative risk premia (ARP) strategies – which harvest well-established risk premia and market anomalies across asset classes – may fit the bill. ARP […]

In periods of market stress, it can be difficult to rebalance, much less overweight risky assets like equities. In this paper, we review our approach using multiple lenses: magnitude and duration of drawdowns relative to history, cheapness of valuations, and presence of pre-conditions for markets to begin their ascent. Such an approach can help investors tune out the emotion and dial in on the hard data and most probable outcomes even in the face of great uncertainty. While opportunities are developing across many markets, investors should hold off on broad overweights to risky assets at this time.

The historic milestone reached when the white smoke emerged from Brussels and London on 24 December 2020 represents the end of the beginning in the establishment of the new relationship between the UK and EU, rather than an end in itself. Nonetheless, with the lingering threat of a tumultuous no-deal exit now removed, the headwind that this represented to the performance of UK assets has now subsided.

In this edition of VantagePoint, we review the drivers of inflation globally and conclude that widespread inflation concerns are likely overdone. For investors concerned about the risks of inflation, we refresh our analysis on the complex relationship between asset classes and inflation and dig deeper into the implications of higher inflation on equities.

Investors seeking to gain initial exposure to private investments should actively consider secondaries, rather than funds-of-funds, as the very first step to constructing a long-term private equity portfolio.