Services Tags: Defined Contribution

2023 Investment Symposium

Watch the flash talks from Marquette’s 2023 Investment Symposium livestream on September 15 in the player below — use the upper-right list icon to access a specific presentation.

 

Please feel free to reach out to any of the presenters should you have any questions.

Halftime Adjustments

For anyone who regularly reads these letters, recall the market preview edition opined on the outlook for asset classes in 2023, particularly the likelihood of each delivering positive returns for the upcoming year. Given that we are halfway through the year, we would like to use this letter to make “halftime adjustments” to our outlook; with NFL training camps set to open later this month, we couldn’t resist the urge to borrow a football term. We hope this is a quick beach read as you enjoy your summer vacations and prepare for the second half of the year.

This edition re-assesses the outlook for fixed income, equities, and real estate for the second half of 2023.

Read > Halftime Adjustments

 

The opinions expressed herein are those of Marquette Associates, Inc. (“Marquette”), and are subject to change without notice. This material is not financial advice or an offer to purchase or sell any product. Marquette reserves the right to modify its current investment strategies and techniques based on changing market dynamics or client needs.

2023 Halftime Market Insights Video

This video is a recording of a live webinar held July 19 by Marquette’s research team, featuring live, in-depth analysis of the second quarter and themes we’ll be monitoring in the second half of the year.

Our Market Insights series examines the primary asset classes we cover for clients including the U.S. economy, fixed income, U.S. and non-U.S. equities, hedge funds, real estate, infrastructure, private equity, and private credit, with presentations by our research analysts and directors.

Sign up for research alerts to be invited to future webinars and notified when we publish new videos.
For more information, questions, or feedback, please send us an email.

Out of Office: Where Real Estate Markets Stand Today

Commercial real estate is increasingly being dubbed the next shoe to drop as markets assess the fallout from the regional banking turmoil. Amid higher rates and tighter credit conditions, private real estate is now facing the same repricing dynamics that hit the equity and bond markets last year, and while further write downs are expected, the headlines are likely overblown. Fundamental and financing issues are largely concentrated within the office sector — which will likely see a correction over a longer time period but be manageable for most core real estate funds — while other sectors, including industrial and multifamily, are actually set to benefit over the next few years.

This newsletter analyzes the current commercial real estate investment landscape including valuations, fundamentals, debt markets, and private real estate returns.

Read > Out of Office: Where Real Estate Markets Stand Today

 

The opinions expressed herein are those of Marquette Associates, Inc. (“Marquette”), and are subject to change without notice. This material is not financial advice or an offer to purchase or sell any product. Marquette reserves the right to modify its current investment strategies and techniques based on changing market dynamics or client needs.

Down to the Wire: An Update on the 2023 U.S. Debt Ceiling Crisis

In February of this year, Marquette published a Perspectives piece entitled Is the Sky Falling? that detailed the history of the United States debt ceiling, as well as the early innings of negotiations surrounding its possible increase or suspension given the fact that the $31.4 trillion limit was reached on January 19. In the months since, the Treasury Department has been forced to resort to “extraordinary measures” in order to prevent the U.S. from defaulting on its obligations, including suspending sales of state and local government series Treasury securities. Those measures, however, will likely be exhausted in the very near future according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (perhaps as early as June), at which point the federal government will ultimately be unable to pay its obligations fully and, as a result, have to delay making payments for some activities and/or default on its debt obligations. This is commonly referred to as the x-date. It is worth pointing out that a number of large Wall Street firms have brought their forecasts of this date forward in recent days.

This newsletter analyzes potential repercussions of a U.S. default and options for a resolution of the debt limit impasse in Congress.

Read > Down to the Wire: An Update on the 2023 U.S. Debt Ceiling Crisis

 

The opinions expressed herein are those of Marquette Associates, Inc. (“Marquette”), and are subject to change without notice. This material is not financial advice or an offer to purchase or sell any product. Marquette reserves the right to modify its current investment strategies and techniques based on changing market dynamics or client needs.

1Q 2023 Market Insights Video

This video is a recording of a live webinar held April 20 by Marquette’s research team, featuring in-depth analysis of the first quarter of 2023 and themes we’ll be monitoring in the coming months.

Our Market Insights series examines the primary asset classes we cover for clients including the U.S. economy, fixed income, U.S. and non-U.S. equities, hedge funds, real estate, infrastructure, private equity, and private credit, with presentations by our research analysts and directors.

Sign up for research alerts to be invited to future webinars and notified when we publish new videos.
For more information, questions, or feedback, please send us an email.

Nat Kellogg Speaking at eVestment Institutional Trends Quarterly Webcast 12/5

On Tuesday, December 5, Nat Kellogg, CFA will be joining Nasdaq eVestment’s quarterly Institutional Trends Webcast.

Nat will be providing consultant commentary alongside Nasdaq eVestment’s Russ Elliott, Head of Asset Management, Market Intelligence, and Michele Shauf, Head of Client Experience Strategy, Investment Intelligence. The webcast briefs traditional managers on the state of the global institutional market using eVestment data, covering:

  • Where assets are moving and the key flow drivers by universe and geography
  • Where abrupt changes in flows direction may indicate inflection points
  • Where investors in North America, Europe and APAC are concentrating their research activity, in advance of allocation decisions
  • The state of ESG: AUM, flows and allocator interests
  • New facets of ESG data, including universes ranked by carbon emissions

For more information and to watch the replay, visit the event webpage.

Here to Stay? Fixed Income Opportunities Persist Despite First Quarter Volatility

Going into 2023, one of the primary headlines was the return of “income” to the fixed income asset class. Largely as a result of Fed policy in 2022, yields increased significantly over the course of the year, thus finally offering meaningful income to bond investors. At long last, fixed income could provide all three of its staples to portfolios: diversification, liquidity, AND income. With the Federal Reserve committed to further hikes during the first half of the year, expectations were that the opportunity set would last well into the year.

However, bank failures and the associated fear of contagion have been known to not only fuel volatility in equity and credit markets but send investors to the safety of Treasuries. This dynamic naturally drives prices higher and yields lower as investors look to insulate their portfolios from large drawdowns. That said, the Silicon Valley Bank shutdown coupled with other nervousness around regional banks and then the eventual absorption of Credit Suisse by UBS has not had a significant impact on the outlook for fixed income as of quarter end. After trading inside of 2% since 2020, the yield on the Bloomberg aggregate index closed the first quarter at 4.40%, slightly lower than the December 31, 2022 figure of 4.68% but well ahead of its near-zero value in the years leading up to 2022.

This newsletter analyzes recent market dynamics and the current environment and outlook for fixed income.

Read > Here to Stay? Fixed Income Opportunities Persist Despite First Quarter Volatility

 

The opinions expressed herein are those of Marquette Associates, Inc. (“Marquette”), and are subject to change without notice. This material is not financial advice or an offer to purchase or sell any product. Marquette reserves the right to modify its current investment strategies and techniques based on changing market dynamics or client needs.

Matt Nowak Speaking at Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) 2023 Institutional Investor Conference 10/19

On Thursday, October 19, Matt Nowak, AIF® will be speaking at PREA’s 33rd Annual Institutional Investor Conference in Boston.

Matt will be speaking as part of the PREA Defined Contribution Affinity Group luncheon program, joining a panel entitled, “Trends in Defined Contribution Plan Design, Qualified Default Investment Options, and the Inclusion of Alternative Assets,” with several investment professionals.

The Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) is a non-profit trade association for the global institutional real estate investment industry. The Annual Institutional Investor Conference features high quality educational sessions and speakers that cover today’s critical issues as well as opportunities for meaningful interaction and dialogue between investors and managers. For more information, please visit the conference webpage.

The 60/40 Portfolio Revisited: Back from the Dead?

In response to an inquiry concerning rumors of his demise in 1897, American writer and satirist Mark Twain quipped, “The report of my death was an exaggeration.” This quote may also apply in the case of the 60/40 portfolio and a white paper published by Marquette Associates in late 2021. The piece, entitled, “Is the 60/40 Portfolio Dead Forever?” examined the challenges faced by the popular model consisting of a 60% allocation to diversified equities and a 40% allocation to a broad basket of fixed income securities. These challenges included elevated equity valuations and the prospects of rising interest rates and slowing economic growth. Indeed, both stocks and bonds struggled mightily last year due to these and other headwinds, with 2022 one of the worst on record for the 60/40 portfolio. That said, and amid a strong start to 2023, there are reasons for optimism when it comes to the viability of the model to again generate attractive risk-adjusted performance.

This white paper provides historical context for the 60/40 portfolio, details its current outlook, and outlines ways in which investors can augment the model to achieve desired return targets.

Read > The 60/40 Portfolio Revisited: Back from the Dead?

 

The opinions expressed herein are those of Marquette Associates, Inc. (“Marquette”), and are subject to change without notice. This material is not financial advice or an offer to purchase or sell any product. Marquette reserves the right to modify its current investment strategies and techniques based on changing market dynamics or client needs.