Coffee Break 2/8/2021

INVESTMENT CONVICTIONS

• Core scenario
  • In our central scenario, we have taken into account the slower-than-expected vaccine rollout and the unfortunate virus mutation, which might delay herd immunity. The current circumstances do not call into question the mechanical rebound of growth followed by a transition supported by central banks and governments towards a sustainable recovery in the Western hemisphere. H1 2021 will see strong growth in corporate profit and financial markets will likely look favourably on the return of buybacks.
  • In the US, president Joe Biden and his White House administration have the advantage of a unified Congress. Additional stimulus after the Democratic sweep improves the investment horizon. Joe Biden signed a series of executive orders designed to address climate change, whose impacts he compared to the pandemic.
  • In Europe, our central scenario assumes the end of social distancing in 2021 and a swift implementation of the Next Generation EU plan. Germany will elect a new Chancellor in the autumn ending thereby the Merkel era after 16 years.

• Market views
  • An economy driven by the virus, and the mutations representing a blow. Vaccine-driven markets and the inoculations will be game-changers.
  • We have exposure to recovery-related assets: Overweight equities vs. bonds, European and US banks, US small and mid-caps, UK mid-caps and GBP, and exposure to commodities.
  • Simultaneously, our core portfolio remains geared towards the most resilient themes and countries while keeping protections on the European equity market.

• Risks
  • The coronavirus pandemic is the main obstacle to the economic recovery. The vaccine rollout appears underwhelming so far and the recent mutation of the virus could lead to increased efforts to reach herd immunity later this year.
  • Rising bond yields following the US political transition. Joe Biden was inaugurated on 20 January 2021. Prospects of more government debt push investors away from Treasuries, as the curve steepens with the 10Y yield floating higher. Also, as the larger fiscal spending on infrastructure is being discounted, it adds momentum to yields.
  • Political uncertainty: The social divide is widening between losers and winners of the health crisis.

RECENT ACTIONS IN THE ASSET ALLOCATION STRATEGY

2021 started with a tug of war between virus and vaccine. Because of the mechanical catch-up in growth and rebound in corporate earnings, we stay overweight equities but with a protective derivative strategy. Short-term volatility cannot be excluded, even on European equities. In terms of regions, we keep a positive assessment for European and Emerging equities. In terms of sectors, we have exposures to value sectors, such as banks, and US and UK small and mid-caps. There is also a positive assessment for the long-term winners of the sanitary crisis: Technology, Health Care, and EU Green Deal beneficiaries, among others. Riskier bonds and a recently introduced commodity-proxy enhance the strategy. 2021 will require continuous active management and agility.

CROSS ASSET STRATEGY

• 2021 shall be a recovery year and as we anticipate a strong first half, we prefer equities – less expensive than bonds despite high valuation.
  • We are overweight EMU and UK equities. We remain overall neutral Europe ex-EMU. European equities will benefit from the turn in market drivers vs. pandemic.
  • We remain overweight emerging markets equities and have a preference for the Chinese equity market. China emerges stronger and is keeping its lead.
  • We are neutral US equities, with a preference for US banks and small and mid-caps.
  • We are also neutral Japanese equities.
  • We keep key convictions in various thematic investments. Global Technology, Oncology and Biotech sectors prove relatively resilient in the current context and reveal high growth potential driven by innovation and pricing power.
  • We believe that climate and environmental themes enable exposure to key solutions for a cleaner future and will continue to gain in importance as infrastructure plans are becoming green, from China to Europe, and also the US under a Biden administration.
• We are underweight bonds, keeping a short duration, but highly diversified as the current environment is also creating opportunities in the bond market, including in convertible bonds.
  • We are underweight core government bonds and overweight European peripheral government bonds.
  • In a multi-asset portfolio, we focus on the source of the highest carry, i.e. emerging debt. We are neutral US and European investment grade credit.
  • We hold GBP, having reached some of its lowest levels since the Brexit referendum. We hold NOK, which appeared attractive during the crisis, as well as gold and the JPY, which are risk mitigators. We remain cautious on the US dollar.
  • We recently added exposure to the rising prices of commodity, through a basket of currencies, including the AUD, the CAD and the NOK.