September 20, 2021—German stocks have had a strong run of performance in 2021 through September 17, returning 12.3% in EUR terms and 7.7% in USD terms. More broadly, Euro Area stocks have returned 17.8% in EUR terms and 13.0% in USD terms. Consequently, our portfolio construction overweights to international developed country stocks have made a significant contribution to portfolio performance.
August 9, 2021—Last week’s jobs report was strong for the second month in a row and immediately prompted questions about how it may affect the Federal Reserve’s dovish posture. With 1.9 million combined jobs added in June and July, gross domestic product (GDP) surpassing the pre-pandemic peak in 2Q 2021, and inflation at the highest in decades, it’s natural to think the Fed would normalize policy soon.
July 30, 2021—In recent weeks sweeping regulations from Chinese policymakers in several industries have rattled investors and sent Chinese equities reeling. The MSCI China Index has fallen 31% since its February peak and 11% between July 26–27 alone (Figure 1). China’s hefty weight in the MSCI Emerging Markets Equity Index—over 34%—makes it impossible for an investor to ignore (Figure 1).
