Talking Research

"Longer term, the International Energy Agency (IEA) are expecting 35% of global car sales to be electric compared to the previous forecast of 25%. In the meantime, we are seeing increased competition in the EV market [...] and so we see the EV market as a very attractive long-term growth market." Although last year proved a challenging year for sustainable investment strategies, with the...

Investors don’t tend to think of Japan as a breeding ground for opportunity, and it is perhaps not the most obvious choice for those seeking to maximise yield. However, with encouraging growth prospects and a demographic shift that offers potential if played right, are we missing a trick by pushing Japan to the sidelines? This week, Dan Carter , Fund Manager of the A-Rated Jupiter Japan Income fun...

"2022 and 2023 are complete polar opposite environments, and I would describe it as a classic boom-bust cycle." This week, we've gone behind the screens with John Pattullo , Co-Head of Global Bonds and co-manager of the AA-Rated Janus Henderson Strategic Bond and Janus Henderson Fixed Interest Monthly Income   funds. In this episode, Jock and John discuss how attitudes to borrowing...

Following a year characterised by volatility and turbulence, 2023 got off to a strong start and though we aren't out of the woods yet, most asset classes ended the quarter in positive territory.  In this quarter's Talking Research podcast, our team of analysts, who are at the coalface speaking with managers on a regular basis, share insight on what they have been hearing to help make sen...

From Copenhagen to San Diego, and Rio de Janeiro to Tokyo, this week's Behind the Screens offers insight into where the team behind the Responsible A Rated and 3D Gold Rated Baillie Gifford Positive Change fund are searching for investment opportunities. Speaking with Square Mile's Jock Glover, Diana Philip , Investment Specialist at Baillie Gifford , shares her thoughts on why the curre...

What started in community banks in the US is now playing out in the global bond market. To explore what has taken place in the banking sector over the past few weeks, Square Mile's Investment Director, Chris Fleming is joined by Chris Bowie, Partner and Portfolio Manager of the TwentyFour Corporate Bond fund . In this short podcast, they discuss: The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and...

"Where this journey has to get to is serious government policy that pulls everything along, shakes it and gives a business model to companies that want to facilitate the change." This week on Behind the Screens , Square Mile's Jock Glover chats with Paul Jourdan,  CEO of Amati Global Investors and Co-Fund Manager of TB Amati UK Listed Smaller Companies fund . With continued unrest i...

Is what we've seen in the banking sector a sign of wider troubles to come or is it just symptomatic of broader monetary tightening? This week on Behind the Screens we are joined by Alex Pelteshki , Co-Manager of the A-Rated Aegon Strategic Bond fund . Speaking with Square Mile's Jock Glover, Alex shares his thoughts on the events of the week, why the serve as a reminder for risk takers a...

What do biotech, digitisation and renewable energy all have in common? They are all themes that Carmignac's Mark Denham sees as opportunities for 2023 and beyond. In this latest episode of Behind the Screens, Jock Glover is joined by Mark, Head of European Equities and Fund Manager of the Responsible A Rated FP Carmignac European Leaders fund , who argues the case for Europe, sharing some of...

Introducing Behind the Screens - a new Square Mile podcast where, each week, we'll be chatting with fund managers and investment specialists from across the industry, digging into their thinking on the wider world and how that translates into the funds they are running. Joining Jock Glover for our first episode is Paul Skinner, Investment Director of the Responsible AA Rated Wellington Global...

Join Square Mile's Chief Investment Officer, Mark Harries as he talks with James Ashley, Head of Market Strategy at Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Hugh Gimber, Global Market Strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, as they discuss the outlook for the year ahead: inflation expectations, a potentially recessionary environment, and what this all means for investors.  This was recorded on...

2022 was a year that can be described by turbulence, both in markets and the wider world. Though we can all agree on the pain endured last year, the outlook for 2023 remains more mixed with some more cautious managers believing we are yet to see the bottom, whilst others appears to have a more positive view on the year ahead. In this episode of the Talking Research podcast, our team of analysts sh...

Markets remained volatile over the third quarter of 2022, with the Bank of England stepping into the Gilt market after the Government's mini-budget in late September and a recession looming in Europe.  In this episode of Talking Research, we seek to make sense of what is happening in markets, looking at how the fund managers in Square Mile's Academy of Funds are responding to this volati...

News broke yesterday of the unprecedented hike in interest rates to 1.75%, the biggest rise in 27years. As a recession looms and inflation is set to hit 13%, was the Bank of England too slow to act? In this Talking Research episode, we discuss the role of central banks in inflation and the impact that interest rate increases will have on the consumer. Mark Harries, Square Mile’s Chief Investment O...

“Net zero involves as much mitigation possible before you start to do the offsetting. From a systems perspective, there is only so much the land, forestry, agriculture, etc. can absorb and we think it’s about 5 gigatonnes. So we need to shrink global emissions to 5 gigatonnes from the 50 it is today.” This final panel of Responsible Pathway explored the hot topic of climate change with four indust...

Rates of inflation rose further in the second quarter and continued to take hold in a broadening range of goods and services. It was another difficult quarter for investors in bond markets as this accelerating inflation caused bond yields to rise again and prices to fall further. This story is not too dissimilar to global stock market indices, which pincered between bond yields and mounting fears...

“ESG is doing the thing right. Impact is doing the right thing.” Impact investing is very much about having clear intent to make a wider positive social and/or environmental impact, and being able to measure and evidence that impact. Whilst still a fairly nascent field, impact is graining traction, however what do investors need to consider when investing in this way. Square Mile’s Steve Kenny spo...

“When we talk about environmental challenges, we are talking about climate change risk and natural capital restoration and biodiversity. Biodiversity is incredibly important, you can’t solve for climate change without solving for natural capital restoration and biodiversity.“ 50% of global GDP depends on biodiversity, however nature’s resources are continually used more quickly than can be repleni...

“This is about embedding the interest of society alongside the interest of investors. Companies that abuse the environment, treat staff poorly, damage the fabric of society, will, in a timeframe, be challenged by the regulators and deserted by customers. Therefore, considerations of these material factors must be part of any credible long-term investment research process.” Despite the challenges r...

Thematic investing is an approach which focuses on the long-term driver and trends, rather than specific sectors or companies. From a responsible investment perspective, this really means investing in companies whose goods and services are enabling a more sustainable and inclusive world. As interest and demand for responsible thematics has grown over recent years, we explore how these portfolios d...

Fixed income has traditionally been seen as a safe haven asset, acting as a diversifier to protect returns when markets sell off. That, however, has most certainly not been the case over recent months, whereby we have experienced one of the toughest periods on record for the asset class as central banks attempt to deal with the elevated levels of inflation. In this month’s episode, Head of Fixed I...

The global backdrop over the last few weeks has been almost the been the perfect storm for markets, with rising interest rates, weak supply chains, rising energy prices and, of course, the dreadful situation in the Ukraine. Combine that with the savage rotation within styles and we may be witnessing one of the toughest market backdrops in a long time over the first quarter of 2022. Drawing on the...

How concerned should investors be about the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine? Do we need to worry about government debt? Have central bankers contributed to inflation? What does this mean for portfolio allocations?  Mark Harries, CIO at Square Mile, is joined by two market strategists to discuss the challenges facing investors in the current market environment – Hugh Gimber, Global Mark...

In the final quarter of 2021, we saw US equities dominate markets, value continue to outperform and more muted portfolio activity from some of the fund managers we speak with, whilst inflation remained a hot topic and concerns around the omicron variant persisted. In this episode, Square Mile's research team share insight on what they heard from fund managers over the last quarter of the year...

Inflation remains headline news, and last week saw UK inflation surge to its highest level for a decade, hitting 4.2% in October. The longevity of the elevated inflation continues to be a hot topic of debate across the market, but how does this play out in the global bond markets, where are the opportunities for bond investors and what is the outlook for the years to come? In this episode of Talki...