Market Snapshot
Iran war reframes Asia investment focus
Back to those other bricks
The Strait of Hormuz remains closed, and spot oil prices remain above the US$90 per-barrel level we flagged six weeks ago as a key hurdle for markets if sustained into May. Even so, risk assets have begun to look through the Iranian conflict. The rally in stocks may, in part, simply reflect “war news fatigue.” […]
Portfolio manager Q&A: MDT Market Neutral
MDT has been managing a market neutral approach for nearly 30 years, correct? Yes, we started managing a market neutral portfolio in 1997. It evolved from the observation that our quantitative approach, which seeks to predict the relative performance of all stocks in the US equity market, lent itself not only to selecting stocks with […]
Market Snapshot
Investor hopes rise on fragile truce
Biotechs and the potential AI advantage
The explosive growth of artificial intelligence (AI) has presented investors with both extraordinary opportunity and material risk since it burst onto the mainstream in the early 2020s. It has streamlined workflows, automated tasks and, in many cases, posed a direct threat to entire industries and workforces. But, for those looking to actively participate in the […]
UK money-market funds can offer safe haven amid Middle East fallout
The UK economy made a lacklustre start to the year – unexpectedly failing to grow in January – even before the Middle East war sparked a global energy shock. The unemployment rate hit a near five-year high of 5.2% in the final quarter of 2025. However, a fall in inflation to 3% underpinned expectations of […]
Behind South Korea’s spectacular surge
South Korea ended 2025 as the best‑performing major equity market in the world – KOSPI index surged 83%1 that delivered a significant tailwind to Federated Hermes’ Asia ex‑Japan Equity Strategy, which had a big overweight to the country. But after such a stellar year, the question for investors is obvious: what happens next? The Strategy […]
SDG Engagement High Yield Credit annual report, 2025
Converting potential to realised impacts
Make yourself at home
In the liquidity space, the first quarter of the year typically sees outflows due largely to a reversal of year-end window-dressing, the corporate tax date on March 15 and preparation for individual tax payments in April. Not so this year. Total industry money market fund assets under management (AUM) held firm at around US$7.45tn (iMoneyNet […]
On not responding to events
The war with Iran has once again placed geopolitical risk as the major topic in most investment discussions. At times like these, some investors try to move opportunistically — buying asset classes or sectors that they expect to benefit while shedding those that look set to lose. Others aim to time the market. Others, still, […]
