Global equity markets have been strong over the first three quarters of 2019, with the Federal Reserve and other central banks easing policy in a coordinated fashion, and solid macroeconomic data in the USA.
| MSCI Indices, Net Total Return USD | 9M 2019 |
| USA | 20.1% |
| All Country World | 16.2% |
| Europe | 13.7% |
| Emerging Markets | 5.9% |
The main theme this year has been robust growth in the USA with weakness in Europe and especially emerging markets, fuelled by worries over the ongoing USA-China trade dispute. Equity valuations of many leading companies remain reasonable, with low bond yields offering poor competition to dividend yields. However risks related to a slowdown in US economic growth, Brexit, and socialist candidates for the 2020 US elections persist. As the saying goes, “bull markets climb a wall of worry”; we focus on capturing the long run outperformance of stocks by remaining invested, despite adopting a somewhat more defensive stance tactically.
