Perspectives Pictet

The escalation in trade tensions, the dimming of global growth prospects and a surge in US export capacity have pushed us to lower our oil forecasts.The recent plunge in prices suggests that oil is acting like a leading indicator of global economic growth, reflecting investors’ concerns that lasting trade disputes will dent future growth and risk pushing the world economy into recession.Business sentiment has been deteriorating for some time. By May, the world Purchasing Manager Index for...

Pictet Wealth Management's latest positioning across asset classes and investment themesAsset allocationWe have turned tactically underweight on global equites, including US equities, given elevated valuations, mixed economic data and rising trade tensions. We remain neutral on euro area equities, where valuations are generally more reasonable than in the US. We have also moved from an overweight to neutral stance on Asian emerging-market equities.At the same time as we remain focused on...

Weak inflation data pose a conundrum, both in terms of the growth outlook and the ECB’s policy stance. We believe the ECB will stay on hold in 2020.The euro area headline flash Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) dropped to 1.2% year on year in May from 1.7% the previous month.  Core inflation fell by 50bp to 0.8% y-o-y. While this reflects volatility stemming from the date of Easter this year, one can legitimately ask why inflation remains so low in the euro area, with the underlying...

The European Central Bank’s meeting on 6 June is unlikely to result in major policy changes, but instead will focus on risk assessment and TLTRO-III. The press conference could set the stage for a policy response should downside risks materialise.Long story short, the ECB should continue to err on the side of caution, while preparing for dovish contingencies, which could range from the easy to the scary. The easy plan would follow if risks to the outlook remain firmly tilted to the downside....

Trade, inflation expectations and economic data could well spark ‘insurance’ rate cuts by the Fed in the coming months.We now believe that the Federal Reserve (Fed) could deliver two ‘insurance’ rate cuts of 25bps in coming months (up to now, we expected rates to be on hold in 2019-2020). We see three drivers that could dictate the exact timing of these cuts: 1) a continuation of President Trump’s pro-tariff stance (with the risk of dampening business sentiment and therefore investment); 2)...

The CIO office’s view of the week ahead.Last week, President Trump announced a 5% tariff on all imports from Mexico to take effect from 10 June unless the Mexican government moves to stem illegal immigration across the US-Mexico border. This rate could then rise by 5% each month to reach 25% by October if the US is not satisfied with Mexico’s response. Mexico has been one of the beneficiary countries of the US-China trade war, its trade balance with the US widening as China’s narrows....

Given a deteriorating global growth outlook and higher trade tensions, we are reducing our bearish stance on the US dollar. However, we believe that most factors suggest the US dollar continues to face downside risks.Despite a more dovish Fed, the US dollar has remained strong since the start of the year (as of 28 May, only the Canadian dollar and the Japanese yen had fared better). Weak global economic growth, notably as a result of trade tensions, has favoured the US dollar given its...

The prospect of diminishing returns for classic, and previously highly effective, 60/40 portfolios (60% equities, 40% bonds) is leading to changes in strategic asset allocation. Efforts to improve prospects include identifying macroeconomic regimes to guide investments and refining how diversification is understood. Interest in endowment-style investing is also growing as private assets are incorporated into strategic asset allocation to boost portfolio returns.Using macroeconomic regimes...

The results mean the next Conservative Party leader could veer towards a harder stance on Brexit, with implications for sterling and UK stocks.The European Parliament elections produced mixed results in the UK and do not seem to offer a clear path out of the current Brexit limbo.Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party came first, while the Tory (Conservative) party suffered heavily. This is likely to induce a new Tory leader to adopt a harder stance on Brexit in the coming months, as the party faces a...

Voter turnout for European parliament elections surged across the continent, exceeding 50% for the first time in a quarter century and breaking the downward trend of the last four decades. However, differences in turnout across the EU have been substantial and a more fragmented parliament has emerged.Voter turnout was up for the first time ever and at 51%, higher than in any election since 1994. The results delivered a parliament with a pro-European majority, broadly in line with opinion...