Gold has been defying gravity of late, climbing to all-time highs in March and April despite mixed economic conditions that would usually bring it back down to earth. Read the full report here.
An interesting dichotomy has developed in emerging markets (EM), between government actors and independent investors in publicly traded equities. Government ownership may lead to corporate governance issues that arise from the inherent principal-agent problem and cause operational inefficiencies and weaker levels of profitability.
Japan’s equity market has been overlooked for decades, but recent regime changes are reshaping its appeal. With inflation returning and corporate reforms underway, Japanese equities may offer U.S investors value.
Despite the lack of institutional investor interest in the metal, gold had a fantastic year in 2023, reaching a new high on the London Bullion Market Association. Spot gold prices also closed the year up. In contrast to 2022, bond and U.S. dollar headwinds are allowing the metal to gain. Read the full report here.
By removing state-owned enterprises (SOEs) from a market capitalization-weighted universe of Chinese equities, the WisdomTree China ex-State-Owned Enterprises Fund (CXSE) offers a unique balance of many of the key characteristics investors look for in a China allocation, with one of the lowest net expense ratios.
Over the last year and a half, fixed income investors have faced a variety of challenges: a once-in-a-generation pandemic with unprecedented lockdown, a surge in inflation and rate hikes at a pace not seen since Chairman Volcker’s tenure. With the U.S. bond market expected to continue evolving, learn about three high-conviction themes for fixed income investors to consider now.
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.
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.
