Market Talk

What’s the impact of Long Covid on productivity, is herd immunity still a realistic goal and how can vaccines be spread more equally across the world? Mark Belsey, a senior healthcare analyst on NN Investment Partners’ European equity team, joins our latest podcast to tackle the most pressing investor questions about the pandemic.

Uncertainty in the financial markets is increasing as the Delta variant continues to spread and supply chain bottlenecks disrupt the recovery. In our latest podcast, Ewout van Schaick, NN IP’s head of Multi Asset, and Senior Economist Willem Verhagen reflect on last week’s Jackson Hole speech and discuss what’s next in the global economic recovery.

The Covid-pandemic has accelerated the trend toward online shopping. What will happen when economies return to normal? Jeff Meys, senior investment analyst on NN Investment Partners’ Global Sustainable & Impact Equity Team, joins our latest podcast to discuss the sector’s growth outlook and how investors can play this trend in an ESG-friendly manner.

In this extended summer podcast, Ewout van Schaick and Marcel van de Hoef take a step back from the daily market grind to reflect on how 1.5 years of Covid has changed the game for investors. Joining them is Maarten Geerdink, NN IP’s head of European equities. They cover a wide range of topics including the growing importance of high-frequency and sentiment data, the divergence between asset classes, meme stocks, cryptocurrencies, and the unstoppable growth in sustainable investing.

The price of carbon allowances in the EU has soared to record highs this year and demand is poised to increase in the medium term. In our latest podcast, Koen Straetmans, senior strategist on NN Investment Partners’ Multi Asset team, discusses whether the time is right for institutional investors to get involved in this emerging asset class.

Corporate earnings growth, economic numbers and improving Covid figures are all contributing to the calm positive vibe as markets bask in the summer sun. This feeling is not surprising according to NN IP’s Head of Multi Asset, Ewout van Schaick. Covid restrictions are being relaxed, life is returning to normal, spirits are rising. In this week’s podcast, Senior Investment Strategist Fouad Mehadi joins Ewout to reflect on some less expected developments: the recent flattening of Treasury market yields in both the US and Europe, despite the persistence of inflationary factors. Fouad explains why he is happy to maintain his duration underweight, why he currently favours high yield, and why it is important to look beyond the summer to what a chillier autumn might bring.

The use of sentiment data in investment analysis has grown precipitously over the past decade. Technological advancements have made it possible to analyse vast amounts of textual data from social media and other online sources, giving investors an up-to-the-minute understanding of how companies are perceived and what this might mean for future returns. In our latest podcast, Richard Peterson, CEO and founder of MarketPsych, joins Tjeerd van Cappelle, Head of AI Equity at NN Investment Partners, to discuss what we can glean from sentiment data, how we can apply it for improved alpha generation, and where the next frontier in sentiment analysis could lie.

In our latest Market Talk podcast, Ewout van Schaick, head of Multi Asset, comments on the surge in US April inflation data. He notes that the gradual re-opening of developed economies is being accompanied by a release of pent-up demand. Suppliers of many goods and service had meanwhile reduced supply in anticipation of a longer recession, which has created tight supply in parts of the labour market, acute shortages in some materials, major bottlenecks in supply chains and rising transportation costs and prices for many commodities.

In our latest podcast, we talk to Anil Katarya, global head of investment grade credit at Voya Investment Management in Atlanta. After a surprisingly resilient 2020, when markets, including US credits, navigated their way through the Covid-19 storm on a wave of central bank liquidity and government stimulus, the first quarter of 2021 has been more mixed. So where do we go from here? Anil, who manages NN IP’s US IG Credit strategy, emphasizes that interest rates and inflation are only part of the story for credit investors. US companies have a dominant position and are set to benefit from a strong global recovery. As an active investor with a bottom-up approach in a market with around 700 issuers, you really have to do your homework. But if you do, there are plenty of solid investment stories with bonds that offer attractive risk reward profiles.

Alistair Perkins, head of project finance and infrastructure debt at NN IP, has been involved in financing infrastructure projects for over 20 years. The types of deals have not really changed. He and his team still provide financing for government buildings, social housing, public transport, fibre-optic networks and hospitals, for example. Most of the projects have clear social benefits and positively affect many people’s lives. What has changed is the focus. In the early days, only the financial benefits and risks were evaluated. Now, an increasing number of investors want to make a positive impact, and that means also finding investments that contribute to the “S” of ESG. In this week’s podcast, Alistair explains why private debt is so well-suited to achieving social impact and looks at some of the challenges investors face when it comes to putting a value on social factors.