Markets attempt to look through Iran conflict – For now Market sentiment has oscillated sharply in response to developments in the Arabian Gulf, but recent price action suggests investors are increasingly willing to look through the immediate shock. Having been down roughly 9% earlier in the year, the S&P 500 has recovered most
Investors exit private credit After more than a decade of uninterrupted growth, the private credit market is facing its first major contraction. Recent weeks have seen a rush to exit the asset class, prompting several fund managers to "gate" redemptions – a move only likely to further erode investor confidence. The primary catalyst for
The debate over index concentration The meteoric rise of US mega-cap technology stocks over the past 15 years or so has led to an extraordinary level of index concentration. The combined weight of the five largest stocks in the MSCI World Index has surged from around 6% in 2015 to 20% today, while
DeepSeek’s market shock: What you need to know A breakthrough AI model by Chinese upstart DeepSeek created a storm in global financial markets in January, slashing nearly USD 1 trillion of US tech sector market capitalization in a single day and forcing a dramatic rethink of AI valuations. Nvidia plunged 17%, with other semiconductor
Heavy stock concentration poses indexing problems The relentless secular bull market in tech stocks has led to structurally high index concentration. While this is an age-old market phenomenon, it still poses a challenge for fund managers and index designers, particularly with passive investing having added fuel to the debate around index concentration.
Stablecoins come under increased scrutiny For an asset type often regarded as a “safer” corner of the crypto world, stablecoins have attracted a surprising degree of regulatory scrutiny. While stablecoins are designed to maintain a stable value, their underlying structures and use cases vary, meaning not all stablecoins are created equal. Regulators are
Regulators take aim at greenwashing Greenwashing – a misleading or deceptive marketing practice used by companies and other organizations to portray themselves or their products and services as environmentally friendly or sustainable – has become so ubiquitous in recent times that regulators have been forced to act. The EU’s proposed “green claims” directive is
Can rotation into small caps be sustained? July saw a dramatic rotation in the US stock market out of all-conquering megacap tech stocks into small caps. While a market rebalancing would be welcome, gathering economic and political uncertainty point to volatility ahead, which is a headwind for riskier small caps. For
AI and NVIDIA drive markets boom Since the launch of ChatGPT-3 in June 2020, AI has captured the public imagination in a manner like no technological development since the Internet. The widespread availability of ChatGPT-3 and subsequent enhanced versions, along with a constant stream of other AI products coming to
Inflation divergences: Implications for monetary policy Inflation dynamics across developed economies are diverging. US inflation data has come in “hot” so far in 2024, but inflation in Europe has eased, falling short of expectations. While the Fed is opting to look through the data for now and sticking to its
