Talking Heads

Food security has shot to the top of the agenda for governments and economists, but also investors. The war in Ukraine has highlighted the fragility of cross-border supply chains and countries’ dependence on food imports. More localised production is one potential answer, another is vertical integration to reduce a food company’s vulnerability to the whims of external sources.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

The rapid growth in sustainability investing in recent decades has bolstered the need for greater transparency as investors increasingly want to know where and how sustainably their money is invested. MiFID II and other regulations have taken on more of a sustainability focus to improve the flow of information from issuers, distributors and asset managers.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

In an investment environment laden with challenges from rising interest rates to a possible global slowdown, listed real estate comes with advantageous features such as inflation-resilient cash flows and better liquidity than bricks and mortar. As such, listed real estate is a portfolio diversifier offering investors attractive risk-adjusted returns over the long haul. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Investing with a view to a sustainable future has often focused on environmental and governance issues – the ‘E’ and ‘G’ of ESG. However, the path towards a more inclusive society means social factors should be considered more actively as well, argues Delphine Riou, ESG analyst and Inclusive Growth lead, as she points out the significance of the ‘S’ for social in achieving sustainable corporate performance. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Disruption of supply chains is just one factor investors in new technologies currently have to contend with. A fundamental reevaluation of the outlook for US interest rates and as a consequence, the pricing of growth stocks, is another. Pamela Hegarty, disruptive technology portfolio manager, talks about how the themes she sees shaping future technological trends provide her with reference points in assessing today’s opportunities and risks.   Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Private equity impact investing offers investors access to an attractive asset class that can help diversify a portfolio and earn attractive returns. In addition, it offers an extra-financial component by enabling them to contribute – and help finance – solutions to pressing social and environmental problems from access to healthcare to promoting a circular economy. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

US small-cap stocks are trading near 10-year lows on various metrics, which disregards their  typical resilience in periods of rising interest rates and slower economic growth.  Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

In early March, Chinese policymakers announced economic growth of around 5.5% would be targeted for 2022. Since then, a number of headwinds have led to doubts China’s GDP growth will reach 5%. In this podcast, we explain why we believe Chinese policymakers have both the intention and the means to counter factors potentially slowing growth in the world’s second-largest economy.  Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Value investing remains a worthwhile approach, even after an extended period of underperformance. A rebound has now set in that looks sustainable. Rising interest rates should be supportive of the value style and value still looks cheap relative to growth. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Foreign exchange (FX) markets can be viewed as a derivative asset in that they tend to be driven by volatility in other asset markets. Since 2015, most of the leading currencies have traded in relatively confined ranges. With volatility rising in equity, bond and commodity markets, there are good reasons to expect a new regime in currency markets.  Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.