Insights from Franklin Templeton specialist investment managers Brandywine Global, Clarion Partners, ClearBridge Investments and Western Asset
2021 has been a year of notable economic growth after unexpected change caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In our Economic and Market Outlook for 2022, we lay out some of the “known unknowns” we believe could significantly affect the investing landscape...
This quarterly is a piece written by my Asset Allocation co-head John Thorndike. In it, he explains the rationale behind our strong preference for non-U.S. stocks despite the stellar performance the U.S. stock market has delivered over the last decade. The research behind the piece is an example of the bread and butter of our historical asset allocation analysis.
The fund is rated 5 stars in the Small Cap Growth category for the 5-Year, 3-Year, & Overall Periods. As of November 30, 2021, the fund was rated against 507 small cap growth funds in the 5-year category and 574 funds in the 3-year and overall categories, based on total returns.
While the Fed has now dropped "transitory" from their communications, the US and global economies might indeed be in a transitory state, and the important investment question is transitioning to what? It seems highly unlikely the economy will return to its pre-pandemic state. In our year ahead outlook report, we highlight our views on the best investment opportunities for 2022, given our analysis of an economic transition during the coming year.
A large portion of the advisor community would be far better off under the RIA model, yet many of those advisors will never take advantage of it.
Advisors breach their fiduciary duty when they fail to recommend guaranteed income products.
As China seeks to achieve “Common Prosperity,” companies which are aligned with the latest policy guidance stand to gain.
Investor sentiment is one key to shorter-term market swings; with euphoria preceding September’s and late-November’s pullbacks; but better conditions in place … for now.
In his congressional testimony of November 30, Fed Chair Powell seemed to shift from cautious to hawkish. However, the evolution of the inflationary outlook had been underway for a while. The spike in inflation in the spring was narrow, the gain concentrated in a few categories.
We are entering a new market regime unlike any in the past half century: We see another year of positive equity returns coupled with a down year for bonds. But we have dialed back our risk-taking given the wide range of potential outcomes in 2022.
Clients struggle with making right the Social Security claiming decision. This article provides a six-step process to guide clients through the complexity of Social Security.
New research on corporate bonds shows that investors driven by ESG mandates have reduced the cost of capital for “green” companies – thereby achieving their goal of addressing concerns around climate change.
Have the tables turned? The S&P 500 is just shy of its level prior to the World Health Organization declaring Omicron a “variant of concern.
The week of Thanksgiving has historically been a peaceful lull for investors. Staying true to form in 2021, events around the holiday were far from normal. Cambiar Investors CIO Brian Barish breaks down the major questions hanging over the economy and equity markets as we head into the new year.
As President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion social spending package has made its way through Congress, some of Democrats’ most ambitious higher-education plans, such as wide-scale student-loan forgiveness, have been abandoned.
Given all the municipal bonds to choose from, how do you decide which ones should make up the core of your portfolio? With $3.9 trillion of muni debt outstanding1 spread among tens of thousands of issuers, the choice may seem daunting, but we’ll help you break it down.
Ever since the Federal Reserve started hinting it was planning to end its ultra-loose monetary policy, bond yields have been falling. That it happened in a booming economy with the highest inflation readings in nearly 40 years has taken a lot of investors and analysts by surprise.
Historically, fourth quarter tax loss selling of closed-end funds (“CEFs”) has been prevalent in the market. CEFs may be more susceptible to tax loss selling given they trade on a stock exchange and market prices (investor return) can deviate from underlying net asset values (“NAVs”) (fund return).
The US Federal Reserve finally acknowledged inflation is not a “transitory” problem and signaled a greater degree of concern; but investors seem to think that the Fed will blink when markets balk.
Taxable assets make up nearly half of the U.S. mutual fund universe. Helping your clients reduce the tax bite on these assets could help you differentiate your value proposition.
They’ve only just entered the workforce, but a significant swath of the newest crop of U.S. employees are already making plans for an early exit.
Inflation continues to be a concern these days, and many investors are looking for investments that can keep pace with, or hopefully beat, the rate of inflation. As a result, Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, or TIPS, have become a popular investment option.
Uncertainties that caused U.S. Treasuries to rally and yield curves to undulate in November may persist and could contribute to volatility into year-end.
So, when you think about the end of 2021, and looking forward into 2022, we’re reasonably optimistic about the backdrop. Growth should be set up pretty well for 2022.
Instead of purchasing the latest toy or electronic gadget for your children or grandchildren, what about giving them something that will last a lifetime and isn’t in limited supply: the gift of a more secure future. Sandra Palmer, Head of 529 Distribution for Franklin Templeton’s 529 College Savings Plan, discusses how crowdfunding can help finance a college education.
The U.S. Treasury’s Series I savings bonds are no longer a forgotten investment option.
The share of global wealth held by billionaires surged to a record during the Covid-19 crisis, according to a group founded by French economist Thomas Piketty.
When was the last time your entire paycheck shrank by more than 20%? If you are being paid in Bitcoin, the answer was Saturday, when the token fell as much as 21% in a matter of hours.
Chinese property markets are going through a significant slowdown that began in Q2 2021. The average slowdown in the previous episodes over the last 20 years lasted four quarters.
Wall Street likes to warn that past performance doesn’t guarantee future results, but when it comes to the traditional 60/40 mix of stocks and bonds, it kind of has. Persistent inflation could bring that to an end.
The busy retail season is in full swing, but what can investors make of the longer-term outlook for consumer stocks? Sophie Steel of BlackRock Fundamental Equities looks beyond the seasonalities to three factors that are reshaping the opportunities across consumer sectors.
As we celebrate the holiday season and ponder what we are thankful for, it’s also time to take stock of one’s investments. Here, David Mann, Head of Global Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) Capital Markets, opines on an ETF anniversary he’s thankful for—and offers some tax-planning food for thought.
After a year of rebound and recovery, we believe that economic growth, inflation and investment returns are likely to moderate in 2022.
This is one of a series of interviews by Bloomberg Opinion columnists on how to solve the world’s most pressing policy challenges. It has been edited for length and clarity.
Many of us are perfectly willing to talk a lot about others' money: the cost of government programs, the cost of living, our personal taxes, and public policy on taxing business profits. What we don’t talk about is our personal money.
Interest rates were mixed in November, as shorter maturity yields continued to rise while longer maturity yields fell further. The continued flattening of the yield curve reflects the market’s expectation that the Fed will be more aggressive in their tapering of official purchases and potentially raise the fed funds target rate more quickly and aggressively than previously thought.
The S&P 500 index is up more than 20% so far this year, but more than 90% of its member stocks have had “correction” level drawdowns—more than 10% from a peak—at some point this year. In short, while overall stock market performance has been strong, there has been a lot of churn beneath the surface.
Impact investing, which seeks to make a direct—and measurable—social or environmental impact while generating a financial return, has historically been synonymous with the private debt and equity markets. But that ignores the hugely important public market of municipal finance.
How can advisors help clients who lack sufficient savings for retirement – those who accept the need to take on risk to achieve capital growth, but insist on a minimum income to fund essential expenses?
The new variant will test our ability to live with COVID-19
Is it possible that, as the planning profession matures, all planners will eventually follow the same path that every other profession has followed, and charge on an hourly basis for the advice they give – like lawyers, tax professionals and accountants?
While I’m a huge proponent of passive and factor investing, the argument that direct indexing is akin to active management is imprecise.
The employers who kept DB plans without adequately funding them and/or generating returns sufficient to pay the promised benefits. It is a systemic problem that affects others. Today we’ll discuss this problem and some of its macro-level consequences.
While the new US infrastructure investment bill didn’t have any initiatives directly targeting the municipal bond market, there are still implications for munis in the longer term, according to our Municipal Bond Director of Research Jennifer Johnston. She explains the ramifications for investors in the space.
It appears as though we may be heading towards an inflection point in early 2022 whereby we begin to see the rate of growth continue its deceleration to the downside. Whether inflation follows suit remains to be seen, though my base case in the direction of change in inflation could surprise to the upside again in December and perhaps even January.
The later the US Federal Reserve is in reacting properly to inflationary developments, the greater the likelihood that it will have to hit the policy brakes hard, causing market turmoil and unnecessary economic pain. The Fed must now do two things quickly.
This third quarter update of Global Investment Report’s 18th annual global hedge fund survey highlights some of the remarkable distortions revealed across markets, while reporting on the current sentiment of leading investors and tracking how the top 50 funds have performed through the first three quarters of 2021.
Time segmentation seems to be a more planful approach for creating a retirement income stream than simply taking three to four percent withdrawals from a portfolio of equities and fixed income (or higher if you read Bill Bengen’s recent article in this publication).
Though the equity markets likely will experience some volatility, the outlook for economic growth remains positive: above-average growth should lead to above-average earnings growth for companies in 2022.
