Asia Insights: Playing Defense

Introduction Aaron Costello, Regional Head for Asia, and Vivian Gan, Senior Investment Associate, Capital Markets Research Asian markets have had a difficult year so far due to headwinds from slowing global growth and higher inflation. Asian equities and yield-sensitive assets have sold off alongside their global counterparts amid heightened volatility and rising interest rates. Ongoing […]

September 2022

Fed Hikes Another 0.75% and Signals More Tightening to Come

The Federal Reserve announced its third consecutive interest rate increase of 75 basis points (bps) on September 22, bringing the Fed funds target range to 3.00%–3.25%. Policymakers’ median estimate of the terminal Fed funds rate also increased sharply from 3.8% to 4.6%. Taken together, these two changes highlight the Fed’s concerns about inflation and their […]

September 2022

Building a Lasting Family Legacy in Asia: Values, Governance, and Policy

A large and growing cohort of next generation (next gen) investors in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) are preparing to take on the responsibility of managing their family’s wealth. The region accounts for a large and growing sum of total wealth worldwide (Figure 1). In Singapore alone, the number of family offices increased from approximately 200 to […]

September 2022

VantagePoint: Have US Equities Hit Bottom?

US equities have entered official bear market territory with a more than 20% price decline. Some markets have seen sharper drops with speculative tech stocks (e.g., the Ark Innovation ETF) falling more than 75% from early 2021 peaks and many crypto assets seeing similar declines. Given the uncertain economic and profit environment, have markets bottomed […]

July 2022

Healthcare System Investments: Play Defense Before Offense

The COVID-19 pandemic financially shocked healthcare system enterprises and investment portfolios, but those shocks were short lived and the recovery was swift. In fact, by the time 2021 ended, many hospitals were in a stronger financial position after the positive impact of stimulus funding, stabilizing operational results, and substantial investment gains. But challenges still exist. […]

July 2022

Should Investors Underweight Emerging Markets Equities Today?

No. Emerging markets (EM) equities face a challenging macroeconomic environment, but many of the same issues are also plaguing their developed markets (DM) peers. We think EM allocations outside of China should be in line with policy, given that the risk of a widespread EM debt crisis is low, valuations relative to DM peers are […]

June 2022

Video: Portfolio Construction for Private Families

Portfolio management for families of significant wealth is distinctly different than for institutions, or those with traditional wealth management needs. For these families, the wealth typically exists in a much more complex ecosystem—among real estate investments, operating companies, or multiple generations, by way of example. These factors should have a meaningful impact on investment strategy, […]

June 2022

Should Investors Go Long Duration Following This Year’s Sell-off in US Treasuries?

No, we do not recommend that investors go long duration in fixed income portfolios. The uncertain inflation outlook and potential for more aggressive policy tightening suggest yields could rise further. That said, we believe investors that are short duration in their fixed income portfolios should increase duration to match their benchmark, given the improved risk/reward […]

April 2022