Engagement has a crucial role to play in the green transition
Fast reading Encouraging carbon-intensive companies to implement decarbonisation strategies is crucial to bringing down global emissions and supporting the transition to net zero. Investors are in an important position to affect real change among high-emitting companies through purposeful and effective engagement. The greatest potential for improvement lies with small- and mid-cap (SMID) companies, in our […]
Is the auto sector stuck in second gear?
Fast reading Q2 2024 results revealed a slowing demand for cars, especially in Europe and China, because of elevated interest rates and a soft economic environment. Automotive suppliers are more negatively impacted compared to their original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customers. Protectionist measures in response to the influx of cheap Chinese electric vehicles have created a […]
A guide to fixed income and the US election
Fast reading The race for the House of Representatives and the Senate is also too close to call. The uncertainty has prompted slightly more defensive positioning, at least in the short term. There is a decent cushion to total returns this year. The rate outlook and supportive fundamentals means this is unlikely to change, but […]
Do elections move markets?
US election years, such as 2024, tend to be good periods for small and mid-cap (SMID) investors as the higher relative domestic exposure of these companies (c.70-80% versus c.50% for the broader S&P) typically benefits performance. Presidential candidates across the political spectrum recognise that a strong economy wins votes and domestic smaller companies – the […]
Spectrum Q3 2024: Marvellous medicine
Fast reading While treatments for obesity have dominated the healthcare investment narrative over the past 18 months, they are by no means the only secular growth story. The life sciences industry may be equally well positioned to benefit from longer term structural trends. Biotech companies are innovating at breakneck speed, creating products and processes that […]
Global Equity ESG, H1 2024 Report
Fast reading Recent pushback against ESG integration is nothing new; meanwhile, progress on an ever more structured, rigorous approach to sustainable investing continues apace. Principal adverse indicators (PAIs) are useful metrics to demonstrate how investments can negatively affect factors relating to sustainability, from carbon emissions to human rights. We use PAIs to help us measure […]
Stocks edge upwards as looser policy looms
market snapshot
Why so glum?
Despite some recent volatility, markets are starting to look optimistically at the potential for a soft landing in the US – inflation is falling towards a normalized level, unemployment is up, but still at historically low levels, and the Federal Reserve looks set to embark on a rate-cut cycle. Yet with all this positive data, […]
The road ahead for US equities
How might the US election impact small- and mid-cap companies? Video transcript 2024 has again shown us that anything can happen. In July alone, we experienced the world’s largest computer meltdown, an assassination attempt on Donald Trump and a change of the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee. The historic decision by President Joe Biden to withdraw […]
Equitorial: A practical pathway to net zero
Fast reading There is no silver bullet for investing in the climate transition, however, common to all approaches is the need to understand the challenges and address a range of obstacles. We believe the best solution combines strong historical data with forward-looking tools including scenario analysis, sector decarbonisation pathways, technology curves and projected emissions. Qualitative […]
