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Fund Managers: Hopeful on Inflation, Defensive

Your capital is at risk if you invest. You could lose all your investment. Please see the full risk warning here.

As exemplified in an earlier article, Bank of America’s monthly Fund Manager Survey (FMS) is an interesting sentiment monitor of what the world’s most enduring investor class thinks of the macroeconomic/market scenario in play. In this month’s survey, the results of which were released on the 16th of August, 250 participants representing $752 billon in Assets Under Management responded the surveyors’ questions.

The most interesting outlook being presented shows that the survey participants don’t expect sky-high Consumer Price Index (CPI) trajectories on a global basis while not expecting short-term rates to drop any time soon.

It’s an interesting juxtaposition of outlooks which could be interpreted thus: while inflation is not expected to continue increasing, it’s also being considered enough to expect bond rates to continue rising. When bond rates rise, equity flows decrease – leading to lower market valuations and a continuation of the present-day bear market.

Given that recession is the second half of the inflation/recession cycle, the number of participants deeming an recession as being likely has increased since the past month’s survey.

Another aspect exhibited in the FMS is the growing investor sentiment about companies’ balance sheets as expectation of a recession grows.

Top investors want companies to prioritize the strengthening of balance sheets over increasing capital spending and share buybacks. The share buyback phenomenon, which has increased in several top companies over the course of this year, has been a contributory factor in the momentum seen in leading stocks/sectors. Whether company management heeds this, of course, remains to be seen. If a course correction were to happen, a further deepening of the bear market can be expected.

As highlighted in a past article, infrastructure spending is a key component of the Chinese economy, despite the growing number of ghost cities and infrastructure facilities. Due to events over the past couple of months, a crash in China’s real estate sector has emerged as the most likely factor for a “credit event”, i.e. a debt crisis which could accelerate a market crash.

Meanwhile, cash levels – equities held by institutional investors for quick conversion to cash via sales as opposed to mid- to long-term holdings – have slightly lessened (by 0.4%). At 5.7%, it still remains well above the long-term average of 4.8%.

Another interesting aspect has been the flight of capital towards the US dollar. Despite this being touted in many media outlets as a proof of resilience of the US economy, there has been a slight increase in top investors’ assertion that the US Dollar is a “crowded trade”. A “crowded trade” implies overvaluation and heightened vulnerability to shocks.

Given that this is a survey, the framing of questions as well as the “Big Picture” is important. For instance, top investors collectively assert that their positions in “defensive stocks” are no longer “overweight”, i.e. a cause for outsized negative impact from a risk management perspective.

At the same time, FMS participants also indicate that “growth” stocks will outperform “value” stocks over the next year for the first time since August 2020.

This might be considered “mixed signalling” until the net positioning history is revealed. As per this metric, top investors declare that they are short tech and discretionary stocks – the standard bearers for “growth” stocks.

“Cash” remains king even in this past month, indicating that top investors are still ready to take flight.

The “mixed signalling” is given further context when considering the type of stock that will find favour: it is increasingly becoming important for companies to announce high quality earnings. All other considerations, such as high dividend yield, low volatility and market capitalization are becoming increasingly less relevant.

The increase in conviction in the “quality” of earnings as well as the conviction in high momentum overcoming low momentum indicates an effective “passing of the baton” for interest in well-managed companies with a robust balance sheet driving trajectories. This would mean that most of the “high-conviction” stocks favoured by retail investors will see significant churn and drawdowns. Once again, this indicates the superiority of a tactical investing mindset over a “passive” long-term holding strategy.

Learn more about Exchange Traded Products providing exposure on either the upside or the downside here.

Your capital is at risk if you invest. You could lose all your investment. Please see the full risk warning here.

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Violeta Todorova

Senior Research

Violeta è entrata a far parte di Leverage Shares nel settembre 2022. È responsabile dello svolgimento di analisi tecniche e ricerche macroeconomiche ed azionarie, fornendo pregiate informazioni per aiutare a definire le strategie di investimento per i clienti.

Prima di cominciare con LS, Violeta ha lavorato presso diverse società di investimento di alto profilo in Australia, come Tollhurst e Morgans Financial, dove ha trascorso gli ultimi 12 anni della sua carriera.

Violeta è un tecnico di mercato certificato dall’Australian Technical Analysts Association e ha conseguito un diploma post-laurea in finanza applicata e investimenti presso Kaplan Professional (FINSIA), Australia, dove è stata docente per diversi anni.

Julian Manoilov

Marketing Lead

Julian è entrato a far parte di Leverage Shares nel 2018 come parte della prima espansione della società in Europa orientale. È responsabile della progettazione di strategie di marketing e della promozione della notorietà del marchio.

Oktay Kavrak

Head of Communications and Strategy

Oktay è entrato a far parte di Leverage Shares alla fine del 2019. È responsabile della crescita aziendale, mantenendo relazioni chiave e sviluppando attività di vendita nei mercati di lingua inglese.

È entrato in LS da UniCredit, dove è stato responsabile delle relazioni aziendali per le multinazionali. La sua precedente esperienza è in finanza aziendale e amministrazione di fondi in società come IBM Bulgaria e DeGiro / FundShare.

Oktay ha conseguito una laurea in Finanza e contabilità ed un certificato post-laurea in Imprenditoria presso il Babson College. Ha ottenuto anche la certificazione CFA.

Sandeep Rao

Research
Sandeep è entrato a far parte di Leverage Shares nel settembre 2020. È responsabile della ricerca sulle linee di prodotto esistenti e nuove, su asset class e strategie, con particolare riguardo all’analisi degli eventi attuali ed i loro sviluppi. Sandeep ha una lunga esperienza nei mercati finanziari. Iniziata in un hedge fund di Chicago come ingegnere finanziario, la sua carriera è proseguita in numerose società ed organizzazioni, nel corso di 8 anni – da Barclays (Capital’s Prime Services Division) al più recente Index Research Team di Nasdaq. Sandeep detiene un M.S. in Finanza ed un MBA all’Illinois Institute of Technology di Chicago.