Giovanni Becchere
Head of Multi-Assets, ABN AMRO Investment Solutions. Based in: Paris, France
““We increased exposure to equities at the expense of bonds, by adding to both US and Europe. In the US we increase the existing holdings in our core position represented by AAF Parnassus US Sustainable Equities. In Europe we take the opportunity to add a new line with AAF Edentree European Sustainable Equities — a pioneer of ESG and sustainable investments. This value-oriented stock-picking approach is unique in the sustainability landscape, in which the vast majority of managers tend to be blended or growth-oriented.”
Luca Dal Mas
Senior fund analyst, Aviva Investors. Based in: London, UK
“The US economy is accelerating, with plenty of slack still remaining in the labour market and huge pent-up savings helped by fiscal support. In Europe, confidence indicators continue to improve, despite the EU’s difficulties on Covid-19 vaccination rollouts. These should pick up pace in April, thanks to further deliveries from AZ and Pfizer. In portfolios, we have taken further profit in credit, sold an alternative manager due to team changes and increased our exposure to more cyclical themes.”
Kelly Prior
Investment Manager in the Multi-manager team, BMO Global Asset Management. Based in: London, UK
“Europe was the best performing equity market with the Magallanes Value Investors European Equity leading the pack, echoing the turn in fortunes for more cyclical investments. We have adjusted weightings withing the European selection to reflect this. With much good new priced into headline market levels we see more focus on fundamentals as a possibility, though the actions of central banks and politicians will undoubtedly continue to be an outsized influence on markets as we move into spring.”
Javier Estrada
Chief Investment Officer, Private Banking, CaixaBank. Based in: Madrid, Spain
“We maintain our portfolio unchanged this month.In fixed income, recent moves in the long part of the curve continue to favour our position on short-term and flexible strategies. However, local currencies in emerging markets are not performing as we expected. On the equity side, we maintain our balance between geographies. Cyclicals and value remain overweight, with exposure to small cap stocks. We also maintain our presence in ESG strategies, both equity and fixed income, climate change, industrial technology and infrastructure.”
Gayathri Devarakonda
Fund Research Analyst, Deutsche Bank Wealth Management. Based in: London, UK
“Global equity markets were in good spirits in March 2021 with S&P 500 reaching new highs. Q1 was a tough quarter for sovereign bonds with US treasury yields rising massively, although in terms of monthly performance March was better than February. March wasn’t a great month for commodities as both oil and gold registered negative returns in the month. Our value and European equities exposure helped the performance of the portfolio in March. We made no changes to the portfolio.”
Silvia Tenconi
Multimanager Investments & Unit Linked, Eurizon Capital SGR. Based in: Milan, Italy
“In March, the performance of the portfolio was positive. Now, we are introducing two new funds, Invesco Asian Equity and Acadian European Equity, and selling JPMorgan Emerging Markets Opportunities and Fisher Emerging Markets. We are also increasing our exposure to Europe and Asia by selling emerging markets and reducing US equities, mainly to lower our dollar exposure after the year-to-date rally. Our view on the recovery is positive and the vaccine rollout is gaining strength in Europe, boding well for risky assets.”
Richard Troue
Fund Manager, Hargreaves Lansdown Fund Managers. Based in: Bristol, UK
“The US Federal Reserve’s policy shift to prioritise full employment over controlling inflation is a change worth paying attention to. It’s too early to tell whether this, combined with an economic recovery as we emerge from lockdown, will see sustained higher inflation, but it does make me question how long certain stocks can justify ever-higher multiples. I’m glad there’s some exposure to more lowly valued stocks and sectors in this portfolio, not to mention some more defensive total return funds for the tougher times. Don’t fight the Fed.”
Paul Hookway,
Senior Fund Analyst, Kleinwort Hambros. Based in: London, UK
“After our pause last month, it was time for action in March. We decided to reduce the gold position by 3 per cent, adding the proceeds to long-dated gilts, which offered a more attractive opportunity. The UK market has long been cheap relative to global markets, but lacked a catalyst for investors to invest. The successful vaccine rollout and anticipated cyclical bounce as Covid-19 restrictions are relaxed, seems to us to be such an event. We reduced the US exposure by 4 per cent, adding a new holding of Threadneedle UK Fund to the portfolio.”
Antti Saari
Chief Investment Strategist, Nordea investments. Based in: Copenhagen, Denmark
“We believe further improvements in the earnings outlook are in the cards as the probability of a V-shaped macro-economic recovery in much of the world is increasing. This alone gives an upside of almost 10 per cent to current EPS estimates. While rising interest rates pose a conundrum for investors in this situation, we note that serious trouble for the equity markets normally starts after the central banks are done with hiking rates — not before they even start. Hence, we continue to recommend an overweight for equities.”
