Flows to and from EPFR-tracked fund groups during the final week of March continued to paint a picture of risk aversion and fear among investors. For the third week running liquidity funds recorded above average inflows while High Yield, Bank Loan, Emerging Markets Bond and Alternative Funds extended their current outflow streaks.
The second week of March was dominated by the crumbling fortunes of large US regional banks and European major Credit Suisse. Although this certainly dented investors’ risk appetite, many saw events as an opportunity – especially if major central banks dust off their playbooks from 2008-09 and 2020, opening lines of credit and secured lending facilities and cutting interest rates.
One year after the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, we look at investor sentiment using fund flows and allocations data to analyze key market trends.
India sold its first sovereign “green” bonds on Wednesday, a debut that was well-received by the market. In this short Off the Wire piece, we will look at investor sentiment towards Developed Markets (DM) and Emerging Markets (EM) Equity and Bond Funds with SRI/ESG mandates.
Turkish equity markets were among the few in 2022 that managed to shrug off the angst fueled by rising inflation and tightening monetary policy, ending the year having outperformed all other markets. But did this commitment last into the new year? Did we see equity fund managers reposition themselves?
In this special edition, Kirsten is joined by EPFR’s CEO Todd Willits, who will comment on the company’s recent rebrand and what this exciting change entails for the firm and its customers in the months to come.
Flows into EPFR-tracked Emerging Markets Equity Funds during the third week of January climbed to their highest level since mid-1Q21 as investors positioned themselves for China’s much anticipated economic rebound and, the anti-inflation rhetoric of the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank (ECB) notwithstanding, an early end to the current interest rate cycles in the US and Europe. Investors also steered $2.5 billion – a 101-week high – into Emerging Markets Bond Funds.
This blog will examine the impact the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has had on global energy markets and the calls investors have made during 2022.
High energy prices have been a norm for 2022 with consistent pressure from the Russia-Ukraine conflict as it leans into the 300th day mark, while others are feeling the “need to rapidly move away from burning fossil fuels to stop average global temperature reaching dangerous levels.” Along this path, the US made a major breakthrough in the fourth quarter by producing a “net energy gain” from a fusion reaction, meaning more energy was generated than used to start the fusion process. Likewise, this process results in “no long-lived radioactive waste” and emits no carbon, a drastic climate-friendly change to the typical nuclear power plants. 2023 and the years to come will continue to be a “global race for next-generation clean technology” and energy.
Over $110 billion – a 131-week high – flowed into EPFR-tracked Money Market Funds during the week ending Jan. 4 as investors surveyed an investment landscape still being reshaped by inflation, tighter monetary policy and geopolitical forces.
