Standard Chartered Money Insights

UK hospitalisation and mortality rates will be key for the UK’s ‘vaccinate and live with it’ COVID-19 strategy. While investors are likely to shuttle between fear and hope, we expect the UK's strategy to succeed, which should gradually lift the GBP.

Speaker:

• DJ Cheong, Investment Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank

The August-October period tends to be seasonally lacklustre for equity markets, but this year we are focussing on three key issues. The UK experiment with the idea of living with COVID-19 after adequate vaccinations could show the world a path out of the pandemic.

Corporate Q2 earnings are another bellwether. Sustained positive surprises should help equity markets continue to climb the ‘wall of worry’. Finally, we expect policymakers to stay accommodative, sustaining the global economic expansion..

Speakers:

• Marco Iachini, Cross-Asset Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank
• Fook Hien Yap, Senior Investment Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank

In this first instalment of “Talking Thematics” we discuss the benefits of thematic investing. We also introduce our podcast listeners to our preferred themes for 2021 and highlight the investment opportunities arising from the trends underpinning these themes. Our thematic ideas encompass structural themes such as climate change, disruptive innovation and investing in a world of low-yields as well as cyclical themes of value equities rotation, US Dollar weakness and the race for income.

Speakers:

• Marco Iachini, Cross-Asset Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank
• Audrey Goh, Senior Cross-Asset Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank
• Trang Nguyen, Portfolio Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank

China’s cut in bank reserve requirements raises the chance of further policy easing. We would need to see signs of further relaxation, especially with regard to regulatory policies, before we consider turning more bullish on Chinese equities.

We believe USD-denominated corporate bonds are a more attractive route to taking exposure to China, besides select equity sectors which are likely to benefit from targeted government policy support and the ongoing global economic expansion.

Speakers:

• Abhilash Narayan, Senior Investment Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank
• Marco Iachini, Cross-Asset Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank

Regular listeners will know that we hold a favourable view towards the NZD over a 12 month horizon. In this podcast, we provide a quick update on what to expect at tomorrow's Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) policy meeting and how it fits into broader NZD fundamentals.

Speaker:

• DJ Cheong, Investment Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank

The pullback in US government bond yields has contrasted with the ongoing reflation and recovery narrative. Are lower bond yields signalling challenges ahead? 

We believe not, given the fall in yields is driven by positioning, falling economic surprises and inflation expectations. Instead, we believe it is creating an entry opportunity in Value and non-US equities and High Yield bonds.

Speakers: 

• Marco Iachini, Cross-Asset Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank
• Abhilash Narayan, Senior Investment Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank

For more of our latest market insights, visit Market views on-the-go.

Uncertainty around the trajectory of Fed tapering could prop up the USD in the short-term, but we expect the USD downtrend to reassert itself over the next 12 months. The CAD remains a favoured currency in this scenario given its supportive terms of trade, a relatively more hawkish of Bank of Canada (BoC) and links to global growth.

Speaker:

• DJ Cheong, Investment Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank

Concerns about the longevity of the economic expansion, new COVID-19 variants and Fed policy are likely overdone. We see the recent gains in Developed Market government bonds and in Growth-style equities as opportunities to rotate into our preferred risk assets.

Speakers: 

• Steve Brice, Chief Investment Officer, Standard Chartered Bank
• Audrey Goh, Senior Cross-Asset Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank

Most of us tend to associate the word “transition” with energy transition and oil and gas companies. However, transition can also be applied more broadly to say that companies of today need to transition into more sustainable business models to position themselves to be successful in the future. We will delve deeper into what this looks like by looking at the ESG metrics that are material for the different industries, and how engagement plays a part in driving change.

Speakers: 

• Abhilash Narayan, Senior Investment Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank
• Thomas Morris, Product Specialist, Global Growth Equities, Allianz Global Investors

While we still expect broad USD weakness over the next 6-12 months, the near-term outlook may be more challenging as expectations of the Fed tapering and transitory US inflation argue for a temporary period of USD consolidation. We still advocate averaging into short USD positions at key technical levels and see buying EUR/USD on the dip at around 1.1700 as an attractive proposition. 

Speaker:

• DJ Cheong, Investment Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank