The announcement by the Icelandic government last week that it is planning to lift the capital controls on the island can already now be seen as a watershed moment for local fund selector polls, at the Expert Investor Iceland held last week in Reykjavik revealed.
Category: Analysis
Pension fund investors unwillingly increase equity
The majority of global pension funds have been increasing their equity allocation in the past six months. However, many would prefer to decrease it if they could just find yield somewhere else, because they expect a serious market correction.
Volatility, high-yield and the risk of policy error
A 6.5% fall in the Shanghai stock exchange on Thursday and a 16% one-day spike in the VIX earlier on in the week are but the two most recent examples of sudden, significant market movements that have caught people off guard. Perhaps the best example, however, is the sharp compression and even sharper rise in […]
GAM poll confirms EIE data – a third of investors believe in Grexit
GAM’s poll, which was conducted at a client event attended by 78 investors and featured prominently on the front page of the FTfm on Monday, shows that investors’ assessment about a Grexit has not really changed over the past weeks, athough Greece and its creditors keep failing to reach an agreement on the extension of Greece’s […]
All eyes on China at Expert Investor Netherlands
China is on the verge of reaching its so-called Lewis Turning Point, as China’s work force as share of the population has reached a peak and cheap supply of labour from the countryside is running dry. The economy will therefore need to find new engines of growth, which will slow down to 4 or 5% […]
Does central bank interference help the economic recovery?
“The worldwide central bank interference we have seen since the financial crisis is extremely unhealthy,” said Richard Halle, a European equity fund manager for M&G who spoke at last week’s Expert Investor Spain event in Madrid, in response to a question from the audience. “Central banks have all exceeded their mandates massively and have been […]
Fund selectors make a strong case for Europe and drop US
Both European equities and absolute return are now more popular with European fund buyers than ever before, according to Expert Investor Europe’s freshest Pan-European data. For both asset classes, the majority of fund selectors are telling us they will increase exposure. Appetite for US equities, by contrast, is at an all-time low. Almost two thirds […]
A Grexit is unavoidable
Barry Norris, the European equity manager and co-founder of London-based investment boutique Argonaut, is one of the most outspoken proponents of a Grexit. The refusal of the current ‘communist’ Greek government to commit to reforms means the country’s economy could never be able to stand on its own feet if it stays in the eurozone, Norris believes.
The Finns, the latest converts to EM small caps
Exactly half of the thirty-odd fund selectors attending the event said they have a preference for small caps within the emerging markets space. Only in Norway, there are more fans: six in 10 fund selectors there prefer small over large in EM. Over the past year, EM small cap managers have gradually found a more […]
