SHARE THIS France’s Macron became a lame duck President this year. The Tory Party was dumped out of office at the UK general election in favour of a party of relatively inexperienced micro-focussed policymakers who have witnessed a remarkably short...
SHARE THIS We have adopted a more cautious stance on Thai bonds with the Bank of Thailand not expected to ease policy further following its interest rate cut in October. Elsewhere in the region, the reappointment of Sri Mulyani Indrawati as Indonesia's...
SHARE THIS During the first Trump presidency, China outperformed the S&P 500 and all the perceived beneficiaries of "China Plus One". While history may not be repeated, it is clear that China's domestic policy and market environment will become...
SHARE THIS We increased the overweight to growth assets given that economic data remains resilient against falling inflation and as global central banks lower interest rates. Regarding defensive assets, we have been relatively negative on sovereign...
SHARE THIS We believe that investors should strive for a diversified global portfolio of quality companies that can thrive in an environment where the cost of capital may be higher than previously expected. Our collective experience of the pandemic...
SHARE THIS Our outlook for 2025 is relatively positive. We expect the business-friendly stance of the Republican Party, coupled with easier monetary policy, will be supportive for risk assets, particularly in the US market. While we hold various views,...
SHARE THIS We believe that a changing political environment could present opportunities across asset classes in 2025, with fixed income in particular poised to benefit as markets adjust to more realistic inflation expectations.
SHARE THIS While 2024 was characterised by broad market gains (or “beta” returns) in Singapore, we expect 2025 to be more centred on generating excess returns (or “alpha”). We believe the service economy, represented by financial services and...
SHARE THIS With Japan overcoming deflation and ushering in a period of progress and consolidation despite market volatility and political upheaval, we expect Japanese companies to make strategic decisions in 2025 that attract global investors in larger...
SHARE THIS Throughout history, equity investors have benefitted from maintaining a long-term view and an optimistic outlook on humanity's ability to prevail in the face of adversity. This might once again be the case, meaning that the biggest risk...
SHARE THIS As we head into 2025, we have picked three key elements that we believe will have the greatest influence over market behaviour and performance: interest rates, the strength of the New Zealand dollar and geopolitical uncertainty.
SHARE THIS New Zealand's economy is faced with challenges including a weak currency, low productivity growth and slowed immigration. However, there are potential posi'tives, such as declining interest rates and possible gains in longer maturity bonds....
SHARE THIS Asian local government bonds are poised to perform well in 2025 thanks to accommodative policies by central banks amid benign inflation and moderating growth. The global easing cycle is expected to lower global yields, thereby providing...
SHARE THIS Many may expect the incoming Trump administration's transactional approach to be detrimental to the geopolitical and macroeconomic landscapes. However, we believe that Washington's mercantilist stance should not prevent Asian markets from...
SHARE THIS In 2025, US economic growth is expected to continue due to fiscal stimulus, despite above-target inflation. Meanwhile, the strong dollar could face disruptions, the Bank of Japan may keep raising interest rates and China is seen balancing...
SHARE THIS Asian local government bonds are positioned to perform well in 2025, supported by accommodative central banks amid an environment of benign inflation and moderating growth. We expect Asian corporate and bank credit fundamentals to stay...
SHARE THIS This month we evaluate factors expected to attract attention in 2025 from a Japanese economy and equity market perspective. And as the government compiles another stimulus package, we discuss how Japan could be about to test the Laffer curve...
SHARE THIS China has been feeling the pressure with Donald Trump due to return for his second term as US president. However, during Trump's first term China actually outperformed the S&P 500 index, which demonstrates the importance of domestic policies...
SHARE THIS We have upgraded our near-term economic outlook for the US and anticipate Japan's "virtuous circle" to remain intact. Predicting the timing of any cyclical market downturn remains challenging. However, we also highlight heightened tail risks...
SHARE THIS The Reserve Bank of New Zealand began cutting interest rates late in 2024 and is anticipated to ease further in 2025. The interest rate environment is expected to be a positive factor for the equity market, which has seen the retail and...