Jeff Weniger, CFA

Head of Equity Strategy


Jeff Weniger, CFA serves as Head of Equity Strategy at WisdomTree. In his role, Weniger helps to formulate the firm’s stock market outlook by assessing macro and fundamental trends. Prior to joining WisdomTree, he was Director, Senior Strategist at BMO, where he worked in the office of the CIO from 2006 to 2017. He served on the firm’s Asset Allocation Committee and co-managed the firm’s ETF model portfolios for both the U.S. and Canada. In 2013, at the age of 32, Jeff was chosen as the youngest member of BMO’s Global Investment Forum, which collected the firm’s top global strategists to formulate the firm’s official long-term outlook for investment trends and markets. Jeff has a B.S. in Finance from the University of Florida and an MBA from Notre Dame. He has been a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of Chicago since 2006. He has appeared in various financial publications such as Barron’s and the Wall Street Journal and makes regular appearances on Canada’s Business News Network (BNN) and Wharton Business Radio.

Latest Insights From Jeff Weniger

South Korea is a peculiar country for asset allocators. Jeff Weniger discusses the potential impact of corporate governance reforms on the country’s stock market and emerging markets funds.
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Japan’s commitment to “Management That Is Conscious of Cost of Capital” (MTICCC) is revolutionizing its economic landscape. Jeff Weniger delves into the nation’s strategic financial reforms, from altering corporate governance to incentivizing investment.
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Japan’s Nikkei 225 recently reached new heights unseen since 1989, surpassing 40,000 for the first time. Jeff Weniger delves into Japan’s economic landscape, exploring the impact of Abenomics, corporate governance reforms and the intriguing “Name and Shame” list on the nation’s stock market triumph.
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Right now, the stock market is blowing out the 20 years from 1980 to 2000 on a specific performance metric: the relative performance of companies with low or nonexistent dividend yields. Jeff Weniger discusses how a mean reversion could impact the markets.
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Japan’s inflation scare may be over soon, as core CPI and PPI trends point to lower prices. Jeff Weniger discusses how BoJ’s policy shifts affect the yield curve and the bond market.
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Inside the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s (TSE) memos are some initiatives that may just be the primary bullish drivers of Japanese equities. Jeff Weniger analyzes key points from the memos and makes the case for Japanese equities.
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Actionable Ideas

As 2023 draws to a close, what will 2024 have in store for investors? It appears this Fed rate hike cycle is over and now we pivot to potential rate cuts. But not until inflation has sufficiently cooled. As we've seen before, a lot can happen in the meantime.

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Marking to Market: 2024 Outlook

As 2023 draws to a close, what will 2024 have in store for investors? It appears this Fed rate hike cycle is over and now we pivot to potential rate cuts. But not until inflation has sufficiently cooled. As we've seen before, a lot can happen in the meantime.

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The Global Edge: What Will "Higher for Longer" Actually Mean?
Central banks in developed economies are poised for the next phase of monetary policy, raising questions for global investors. A consensus suggests that rates will remain restrictive with no imminent cuts. The question for the year ahead is decoding the implications of "higher for longer," and what that means for investment decisions in this evolving landscape.
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2023 Mid-Year Economic and Market Outlook

The economic and market landscapes continue to evolve, and we expect some significant changes as we make our way through the remainder of 2023. In our Mid-Year Economic and Market Outlook for 2023, we lay out some of the “known unknowns” we believe could significantly affect the investing landscape and dive into our thoughts covering Equities, Fixed income and Real assets and alternatives. 

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Truly Profitable Companies: Dividend Growth's Drivers
The driver of long-term compound returns is dividend growth. But what drives the driver? Corporate profitability.
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The Global Edge: Shaken, Not Stirred—The Impact from the Recent Banking Turmoil
In this edition of The Global Edge, our team of thought leaders explore the question of: how long can investors expect to see the potential ill effects from these developments as we move into the second half of the year?
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The Global Edge: China Re-opens: What It Means for Global Investors
As global investors stand weeks away from the end of 2022, it is interesting to note that some things just don’t change. While the financial markets seem to be endlessly waiting for some type of ‘Powell Pivot’ from the Federal Reserve (Fed), global central banks remain in full-tilt tightening mode. The Bank of Japan is, of course, the notable exception in the developed world.
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15 Years of Emerging Markets: Good Performers in a Tough Spot
Coming off our splashy launch of 20 ETFs in one shot in the summer of 2006, we launched a couple of emerging markets ETFs in 2007. We have been left frustrated, not because performance has been poor relative to the asset class, but because the asset class has been so down and out for virtually their whole lives. What we're left with is a bittersweet 15th birthday celebration.
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The Global Edge: Volatility Remains A Market Constant
As global investors stand weeks away from the end of 2022, it is interesting to note that some things just don’t change. While the financial markets seem to be endlessly waiting for some type of ‘Powell Pivot’ from the Federal Reserve (Fed), global central banks remain in full-tilt tightening mode. The Bank of Japan is, of course, the notable exception in the developed world.
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The Global Edge: Navigating the Uncharted Waters Between Growth and Inflation
With inflation raging across the globe, developed market (DM) central banks have been confronted by a force not seen in decades. Indeed, prior to the once in-a-generation COVID-19 pandemic, it seemed as if the challenge facing central banks was skewed more toward the perplexing lack of demand pressures that was prevalent, a complete 180-degree shift from where we currently stand.
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Housing Could be the Next Cloud Over the Stock Market
Economic conditions feel like they are deteriorating rapidly. With losses in stocks, bonds and crypto, it's like you need to take out a personal loan to purchase a box of Cheerios. It's miserable, but then again, nobody is mailing back the keys to their house like they were in 2006.
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The Yield Curve's Crystal Ball is Shaky
It’s going to be a yield curve summer. Inversions—when 10-Year Treasury yields go lower than those of 2-Year Treasuries—have a recession-predicting track record that has become something of legend in Wall Street circles. The reason: having longer-duration bonds trade at lower yields than nearer-term securities is counterintuitive and rare. When it happens, it is a signal that something is awry in the economy.
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A Multi Year Value Cycle Beckons
It’s possible a new value cycle commenced in November 2021, reversing 14 years of woeful underperformance relative to growth. When the value stocks were rising, growth stocks were outperforming. The cycle that may have ended in November 2021 exceeds even that of the legendary growth stock run of the 1990s.
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India: 1.4 Billion People Emerge
India has experienced robust GDP growth and is constantly striving to reach industrialized status, but work still needs to be done. Jeff Weniger discusses how this presents an opportunity for investors, with a focus on how the country's demographics play a key role in its future growth.
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Japan for 2022?
The markets may be handing a gift to Japan’s export machine in 2022, courtesy of a suddenly more hawkish Federal Reserve. The textbooks say that if one country catches an inflation shock while another does not, the currency of the former should weaken.
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Cutting Volatility in Foreign Stocks

After looking at hundreds of asset allocations across this industry over the years, we have seen many investors own foreign stocks with no hedge. They have plenty of rationales, but the main ones are a desire to go along with the status quo, a discomfort with hedging or belief in currencies’ diversifying effect.

We strongly feel the status quo argument –that maintaining currency exposure because it is the common thing to do – is hardly a satisfactory explanation for following that path.

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If at First You Don't Secede... Grexit Risk Again?
I’m often asked about unappreciated risks that can bite the stock market. Here’s one: the threat of a Greek exit from the eurozone—Grexit—coming back.
 
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Planning for Potential 2020 Election Results
We are entering the homestretch of the 2020 presidential election season. With two polarizing presidential candidates, an ongoing pandemic, a recession, social unrest and a mail-in ballot controversy, this cycle is truly like no other. With the current environment in mind, we lay out four possible election outcomes, with our thoughts on how the markets may react to each one. Our hope is that advisors and investors can begin to think ahead and plan for different potential scenarios.
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The Pressure Tightens on China's State-Owned Enterprises

Though China has made great strides in recent decades, filing more patents than any other country, elevating its university system and creating tech giants that rival those in Silicon Valley, The Chinese Communist Party’s obfuscation with regard to COVID-19 may prove a catalyst for Western capital to shift assets from China’s State-Owned-Enterprises to firms that have looser ties with Beijing. 

Jeff Weniger discusses how eliminating SOEs from indexes may increase sales, employee efficiency and return on equity, boosting the aggregate quality factor in a portfolio. 

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Japanese Dividends Look More Secure Than U.S. Dividends
Jeff Weniger discusses why, in our COVID-19 world, Japanese dividends may be safer than U.S. dividends.
 
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Echoes of Dot.com
The oft-cited Bob Farrell, the former head of research at Merrill Lynch who was famous for his 10 investment “rules,” often asserted: “(Market) excesses in one direction will lead to an opposite excess in the other direction.” Jeff Weniger assesses this claim and discusses where the "excesses" lay in our current market. 
 
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The Ghost of Sun Microsystems?
Jeff Weniger discusses the similarities between one of the faces of the 1990's tech bubble, Sun Microsystems, with some of today's popular technology stocks, and shares tips for how to avoid some risks these stocks may present. 
 
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The Stock Market's Five Stages of Grief
Jeff Weniger discusses recent market moves as it relates to "The Five Stages of Grief," and what the future implications could be.
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    Can India's Lights Out Performance Continue?
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    The Global Edge: What Will "Higher for Longer" Actually Mean?
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    Recession Fears? Add Quality to Your Portfolio
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    The Global Edge: Shaken, Not Stirred: The Impact of the Recent Banking Turmoil
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    Asset TV Interview: A Quality Dividend Approach
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    The Global Edge: How Will China's Covid Re-opening Impact Global Markets?
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    The Global Edge: Volatility Quotient Takes Center Stage
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    In Times of Volatility, Add Quality
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    Powell Goes Full Steam Ahead
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    Inflation vs. Recession: Global Central Banks Walk the Tight Rope
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