Services Tags: OCIO

Holiday Supply Chain Woes Linger

Headlines continue to buzz with worries of supply network dysfunction that seem to span every link of the chain, from truckers and shippers to commodities and semi-conductors. Clearly, the delicate balance of supply and demand is off kilter. Supply chain disruptions began when global economies locked down amid the outbreak of COVID-19, and the problem has only been exacerbated by stop-and-start re-openings that have taken place in recent months.

This newsletter seeks to understand current supply chain dynamics and what they might mean for investors and consumers alike as we move into the holiday season. We cover the three-prong problem of prices, transport, and labor, which market participants will likely feel the squeeze tighter than others, how companies have continued to grow their margins, inflation considerations, and what to expect in the short and long term.

Read > Holiday Supply Chain Woes Linger

 

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.

Is the 60/40 Portfolio Dead Forever?

Model portfolios — or those which adhere to a specific set of guidelines surrounding asset allocation and rebalancing — are often utilized by investors because of their rules-based nature, which eliminates the need for constant monitoring. One such model is the “60/40 portfolio,” which consists of a 60% allocation to diversified equities and a 40% allocation to a broad basket of fixed income securities. Due to the imperfect correlation between stock and bond returns, the 60/40 model has enjoyed decades of success at both providing its users with strong absolute returns and suitable protection during market drawdowns. Additionally, there is an intuitive attraction of the 60/40 portfolio due to its relative simplicity of holding just stocks and bonds as its underlying investments. That said, skepticism abounds regarding the model’s viability going forward in light of the current interest rate environment and low forecasted equity returns, particularly for those investors like endowments and foundations with specified spending requirements.

The aim of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of the 60/40 model going forward and provide guidance to investors whose spending targets require an expected return that is consistent with the historical performance of 60/40 portfolios, which has typically hovered around 8%.

Read > Is the 60/40 Portfolio Dead Forever?

 

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.

Q3 2021 Market Insights Video

This video features an in-depth analysis of the third quarter’s performance by Marquette’s research team, reviewing general themes from the quarter and risks and opportunities to monitor through the end 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.

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For more information, questions, or feedback, please send us an email.

Marquette Speaking at OCIO Central Summit 3/23

On Wednesday, March 23rd,  Marquette will be speaking at the OCIO Central Summit hosted by Portfolio Summits in Chicago.

Derek Schmidt, CFA, CAIA, will be joining a panel entitled, “Focus on Alternative Investments,” covering how alternatives strategies have shifted with the debt-fueled expansion of the market. Panelists will discuss alternative investment strategies in PE, venture capital, buyouts, hedge funds, commodities, derivatives, and real estate, and consider updated regulatory issues post pandemic.

The OCIO Central Summit brings together 150+ Outsourced Chief Investment Officers (OCIOs) and institutional consultants based across Illinois and the surrounding states for a day of panel discussions, presentations, Q&A, and networking. For more information, visit the Portfolio Summits event webpage.

Nat Kellogg Speaking at OCIO Central Summit 3/23

On Wednesday, March 23rd, Nat Kellogg, CFA will be speaking at the OCIO Central Summit hosted by Portfolio Summits in Chicago.

Nat will be joining a session entitled, “Manager Selection Roundtable,” with several industry professionals. Panelists will discuss the challenging process of manager selection and what investors should consider when making decisions, including how to identify competitive advantages and how to evaluate which managers will best fit their institution’s needs.

The OCIO Central Summit brings together 150+ Outsourced Chief Investment Officers (OCIOs) and institutional consultants based across Illinois and the surrounding states for a day of panel discussions, presentations, Q&A, and networking. For more information, visit the Portfolio Summits event webpage.

China: Evergrande and Another Move Down

In August we released our newsletter China: From Leader to Laggard, in which we reviewed how China transformed from a top-performing country to a bottom-performing country between 2020 and 2021. We noted that increased regulation was a key reason for this change as new government policies have spooked investors. We highlighted that China has gone through these periods of regulatory change in the past and opined that the market would continue to be jittery over the next six to twelve months before recalibrating to the new environment.

Since then, Chinese equities have continued to fall as global investors focused their attention on Evergrande Group (Evergrande), a Chinese property developer. In this newsletter, we provide a synopsis of the Evergrande story and discuss the market risks.

Read > China: Evergrande and Another Move Down

 

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.

China: From Leader to Laggard

In 2020, China was a top performer in the global equity market, returning 29.5%. In 2021, however, Chinese equities have struggled thus far compared to many of their peers. While several of the world’s major equity markets have generated double-digit returns year-to-date, China has lost 12.3% with the majority of those losses occurring in the last several weeks.

In this newsletter, we review reasons why China has transitioned from leader to laggard — with a focus on recent regulatory actions by the Chinese government — and discuss future prospects from here.

Read > China: From Leader to Laggard

 

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.

2021 Halftime Market Insights Video

This video features an in-depth analysis of the first half of 2021, reviewing general themes from the second quarter and risks and opportunities to monitor in the coming months.

Our Market Insights video 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 notified when we publish new videos here.
For more information, questions, or feedback, please send us an email.

Value vs. Growth: Where Do We Go from Here?

In a reversal of trends that had persisted for several years, value stocks have largely outperformed their growth-oriented peers since the fourth quarter of 2020. Though many factors have contributed to this change in investor sentiment, the resurgence of more cyclical areas of the market is likely being driven by the successful rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which appears to have ended the pandemic in the United States and allowed the domestic economy to reopen to a significant extent. With equity markets likely pricing in a full economic reopening in the coming months, many investors are wondering if recent trends are sustainable, especially given the headwinds experienced by the value factor during the last decade. The aim of this newsletter is to assess the prospects of value stocks going forward in relation to those of their growth counterparts.

Read > Value Vs. Growth: Where Do We Go from Here?

 

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.

The SPAC Explained

The SPAC once again rose to prominence in 2020 and momentum has continued to build this year. By mid-March 2021, the number of SPACs raised had already eclipsed the total raised in 2020. SPACs, special-purpose acquisition companies, are shell companies set up to raise money to acquire another, existing company. SPAC vehicles have been around for decades but have recently risen in popularity as experienced investors and management teams have chosen this route to decrease the risks associated with a traditional initial public offering (IPO).

In this newsletter, we explain how SPACs work and are structured, typical attributes of SPAC sponsors, who benefits from the SPAC structure, why SPACs have seen such exponential growth recently, and how private equity interacts with and influences the SPAC industry.

Read > The SPAC Explained

For more Marquette coverage on SPACs, reference our recent research, What’s Next for SPACs? and The Year of SPACs.

 

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.