Benjamin Hamidi
Senior portfolio manager, ABN AMRO Investment Solutions. Based in: Paris, France
“The current slowdown can so far be seen as a normalisation towards potential growth, which does not call into question our overall assessment at this stage: the economic fundamentals appear to be sufficiently robust. Equities remain one of the few asset classes offering attractive real yields. In this context, we maintain our asset allocation, with a preference for equities over fixed income. Given the risks associated with the increasing volatility of sector and style rotations, we continue to strengthen our neutral positions by taking profits on value strategies.”
Luca Dal Mas
Senior fund analyst, Aviva Investors. Based in: London, UK
“Economic expectations have moderated across both manufacturing and services, showing that the expansion is slowing down. The Federal Reserve confirmed its intention to reduce asset purchases, opening the door to a first rate hike in 2022. In China, troubles are also coming to the fore. These events have affected equity markets, which have fallen everywhere except for Japan. We have trimed our equity and government bond exposure, following a softening outlook for growth and earnings and a faster-than-expected hiking cycle in the US .”
Kelly Prior
Investment Manager in the Multi-manager team, BMO Global Asset Management. Based in: London, UK
“The appointment of a new leader for the Japanese ruling party Fumio Kishida gave fresh vigour to the previously unloved Japanese market, which surged in the month. The value-driven Eastspring Japan Dynamic benefited as the leader in the performance table. Conversely, Europe lagged with the higher beta offering of Berenberg European Small cap faltering. We have replaced the Federated Hermes Multi-Strategy Credit fund with the Janus Henderson Horizon Strategic Bond fund. It seems that the final quarter of the year will be interesting.”
Javier Estrada
Chief Investment Officer, Private Banking, CaixaBank. Based in: Madrid, Spain
“Half of our portfolio is currently in equities, with the rest divided between fixed-income and alternatives. We added more weight to covered bonds, looking for credit quality with no duration risk, while lowering positions in flexible strategies and financials. Alternatives continues to be significant in our portfolio, helping to keep volatility low. On the equity side, we are biased in favor of Europe versus Asia and North America. Sector wise, healthcare, climate change and consumer discretionary are our main exposures.”
Silvia Tenconi
Multimanager Investments & Unit Linked, Eurizon Capital SGR. Based in: Milan, Italy
“September saw a correction on the main stock exchanges, but Japan was the only market to rise in the month. Accordingly, Baillie Gifford Japanese Equity was the only positive contributor, while Allianz Europe Equity Growth and MFS European Research were the biggest detractors. We think a correction was due, hence we put some money to work: we increased our European and US equity exposure, selling cash and concentrated the portfolio a bit more. We also increased our US dollar exposure, which now accounts for more than one-third of the portfolio.”
Richard Troue
Fund Manager, Hargreaves Lansdown Fund Managers. Based in: Bristol, UK
“The portfolio’s bond funds offered useful diversification over the past month. While many parts of the equity and fixed-interest markets were falling, they held steady. They each offer something a little different, whether it’s exposure to overseas bonds and currencies or investments in overlooked and under-research areas. It’s easy to forget the benefits this can bring when markets are strong, and their performance looks dull. But when markets have a wobble, the benefits of having some funds doing something different is clear to see.”
Paul Hookway,
Senior Fund Analyst, Kleinwort Hambros. Based in: London, UK
“Issues such as inflation, tax increases, climate change, supply constraints and the upcoming winter flu season have weighed on investor’s minds. At times like this it pays to take a longer-term view on your portfolio, keeping changes to a minimum, hence no changes were made in September. Equities, in our, opinion continue to be the most attractive asset class over the longer term, but we are reluctant to increase our exposure given current valuation levels in developed market and the recent volatility in emerging markets.”
Antti Saari
Chief Investment Strategist, Nordea investments. Based in: Copenhagen, Denmark
“Lately, waning economic tailwinds and worries about China’s property markets have created turmoil. Markets are still rather stable, though, as 2022 continues to bode well for economic growth and corporate earnings. We don’t expect the bull market to be exhausted yet — we keep equities overweight as the drawdowns have turned both market valuations and investor sentiment more supportive of risk-taking. In the bond space, we continue to reach for extra return in European Investment Grade.”
Marco Pabst
Chief Investment Officer London at Union Bancaire Privée (UBP). Based in: London, UK
“September was a difficult month for both equities and bonds. Global stock markets were down more than 4 per cent and blended fixed income indices lost almost 2 per cent. Technology names underperformed value on the back of rising energy prices. The portfolio outperformed strongly last month, by over 2 per cent, with GLG Japan and Hermes in the lead, and no changes were made. The focus remains on a combination of high-quality growth as well as some cyclical exposure.”
