Columbia Threadneedle

Best Blogs of the Week #255

Posted by Anu Heda on Jan 03, 2017, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with , , , ,

Three, as in the rule of three. As you may expect, the week between Christmas and New Year’s (plus an extra day) means a significant amount of prognostication. Everyone got the memo: say it in threes! Here are the posts I thought were most influential.

American Century – Trump Policies and Current Market Trends – The housing industry potentially sees headwinds from higher mortgage rates, with the existing trend of rising rates reinforced. Tighter labor markets may also have an impact on cost. The auto industry may also see an impact from rising rates as well as sub-optimal supply chains. In addition, export-oriented companies may see an offset from the impact of a stronger dollar.

BlackRock – Why stock market tranquility is unlikely to last – Political Risk is elevated but not reflected.

Columbia Threadneedle – 3 emerging market charts you need to see – Emerging markets forecasted to outpace developed markets

Rule of Three: Idea #1

Russell – The Low-Return Imperative: Investing uncomfortably – The low return environment is real and it presents investors and their advisors with critical decisions.

SSgA – The Hunt for Yield in 2017: 3 Potential Investment Ideas  – The appearance of high dividends is not necessarily indicative of actual delivery of yield or dividend yield growth.

 

 

Gaudi!

Best Blogs of the Week #248

Posted by Anu Heda on Oct 31, 2016, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with , , ,

1 election post. That is all I will bring you. Promise. Overall here are the four most engaging posts from the last three weeks.

Columbia Threedneedle – Election 2016: Lifting the cloud of uncertainty – Changes to tax policies are likely regardless of who wins in November. But it’s questionable how much change can actually be effected considering an expected divided government even if Trump wins.

DistributionsJPMorgan – Fatter tails and endogenous risk – Although endogenous risks are difficult to quantify, there are ways to recognize and mitigate them. Analysis of flow data and correlation can provide insight into crowding and cross asset dynamics.  Stress testing can help quantify potential tail losses, and hedging via non-linear products such as options can help protect against the risks.

Loomis Sayles – Global Growth Themes and Forecast (Infographic) – We’re in a “lower for longer” bond yield environment as inflation in advanced economies decelerates and major central banks—the Bank of England, European Central Bank and Bank of Japan—pursue quantitative easing (QE).

Vanguard – Good grief! They’re commoditizing index investing again – While it may be tempting to think that the same application of technology can displace the human element of running an index fund, we have not seen that disruption and probably never will. Indeed, people remain one of the most critical differences across providers.

 

Best Blogs of the Week #228

Posted by Anu Heda on Apr 25, 2016, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with ,

Two posts this week, both looking at international market. Broad financial news outlets seemed highly focused on fixed income markets with prognostications related to US Treasuries and the negative rate via the BOJ. We thought to eschew posts similarly guessing at the future for two with sound viewpoints on critically important investment opportunities.

Columbia – Global emerging markets: Headwinds and tailwinds– Countries that are not dependent on commodity exports are well-positioned to benefit from domestic-led growth. We are finding opportunities in places like Eastern Europe, India and Mexico. We believe for this group that macro imbalances have largely dissipated, so growth can move forward on a sustainable path.

WisdomTree – Rethink Your International Allocations– But can you time those adaptive hedging moves yourself? Research we have conducted with Record Currency Management shows that it’s possible to add value over passive hedging (or unhedging) all the time. Over the last 28 years, determining when to currency hedge using a three-factor model of interest rate differentials, momentum and currency valuations has added more than 140 bps annually to the returns of a broad international hedged-equity strategy while maintaining the vast majority of the volatility reduction of strategic passive hedging.

Best Blogs of the Week #223

Posted by Anu Heda on Mar 21, 2016, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with , ,

This week’s blogs include numerous posts related to negative interest rate policy. None were particularly insightful so we steered towards three compelling posts on varied topics.

BlackRock – Why millennial women are tuning into their finances –  We also found that millennial women who learned financial responsibility from their parents were more likely to engage in and enjoy investing.

Columbia – Is the U.S. heading towards a recession? – For now, we can say the U.S. economy is late cycle, with recession risks rising but not yet elevated.

M & G – The Central American Remittance Crunch – who would lose most from a Trump Presidency? – The US election campaign has surprised everyone thus far. [Enough said.]

Best Blogs of the Week #219

Posted by Anu Heda on Feb 22, 2016, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with , ,

Three blogs this week spanning wide ranging topics.

BlackRock – Why Investors Have Reason to Be Optimistic – Leading indicators still look okay. Much of this year’s selling has been driven by recession fears.

Columbia – Do a grouch a favor – I believe that fair value for the S&P 500 is in the range of 1800 to 1850. That does not mean that pessimism won’t drive it lower. If it does, there will probably be a buying opportunity.

Wells Fargo – How the price of oil could affect equities – In the recent past, oil and the stock market have moved in lock-step. Many on the equity side looked at petroleum as the canary in the coal mine that was sensing an economic slowdown and telling us just that, which I’m not sure was entirely right or wrong.