Category: Insights

The recent strong performance of value stocks over their glamour counterparts has investors concerned that they may have missed the value opportunity.

The recent strong performance of value stocks over their glamour counterparts has investors concerned that they may have missed the value opportunity.

There is a lot going on in equity markets today, so answering the question whether it’s time to buy equities is not straightforward.

Whilst most investors are fully aware that equity markets have been disappointing in 2022, what is less reported is the dramatic losses in the perceived haven of government bond markets.

The last year has seen considerable negativity across many asset classes. Bond markets have fallen into their first bear market in a generation, and equity markets are still in negative territory as the reality of a slowing global economy and rising interest rates takes its toll.

The first half of 2022 has proved an extremely negative period for global equity markets. The sell-off of the last six months has been exceptional and has only been surpassed during periods of extreme market stress, recalling events in 1974, the TMT crash of 2000, the global financial crisis (GFC) and the European sovereign crisis.

Multi-asset investing has been one of the fastest growing asset categories over the last twenty years. From 2003 to 2018, the industry increased globally more than five-fold, from $2tn to $11tn, also increasing its market share of worldwide assets under management from 6% to 14%.

2022 has seen the global equity market engulfed in negativity. Rising bond yields, stagflation, increasing recession fears, war in Europe, another COVID-induced shutdown in China and the Central Bank tightening to tackle inflation are among the factors causing the negative backdrop for equities today.