Asset Allocation Outlook September

14 September 2020

August is traditionally a month in which little happens on the financial markets. According to market wisdom there’s no point in coming back until September, but this year was an exception to the rule. The MSCI global equity index posted a gain of 6.0%. Japanese equities rose in price by as much as 8.2%, followed by US equities at 7.0%, with European equities and emerging market equities lagging far behind with pluses of 3.4% and 2.1%. The positive climate for risky assets led to tighter spreads on Southern European government bonds, Investment Grade and High Yield credits and emerging market debt.

Please see Kempen’s Asset Allocation Outlook for September. The highlights this month are:

Fed’s new targets point to long-term low interest rates
Economic recovery slowing somewhat, but downturn not expected
Investment policy unchanged, small underweight in equities

2020, 14 September

Asset Allocation Outlook

Download

Disclaimer
Kempen Capital Management N.V. (KCM) is licensed as a manager of various investment funds and to provide investment services and is subject to supervision by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets. This information may not be construed as an offer and provides insufficient basis for an investment decision.

The Asset Allocation Desk

Subscribe to our letter

Leave your email address and be the first to receive the latest editions

Submitting your form

We have received your form

And we will get back to you soon.

Something went wrong

Please check your form for errors or try again later.

News & Knowledge

2020, 24 November

Dividend Update: All set for a style reversal?

It’s been a hard year for the value stocks that our dividend strategy typically invests in. Growth stocks have outperformed them this year (as they did in 2019), such that the valuation gap between the two has hit a historical high – growth stocks had become 230% more expensive than value firms by the end of September based on a composite of four valuation measures – P/E, P/CF, P/B and dividend yield.

2020, 24 November

Dividend update videos

Dividend is the backbone of our investment strategy. Providing a consistent return to shareholders urges companies to carefully manage their cashflows and balance sheet, and scrutinize their investment decisions. As the economy has come to an abrupt stop due to the COVID-19 crisis, regulators, companies and even investors are questioning whether it is prudent to return cash to shareholders when the outlook is filled with uncertainty. We agree, some companies will need all their available resources to weather the crisis. Many others however, are according to our opinion in good shape financially to see this through. Some companies are simply not impacted much directly.

2020, 17 November

Monthly Commentary

Following the election (and Trump’s legal shenanigans) in the US, and news of the Pfizer vaccine over the last week, anything I write about market events in October will have been superseded by the time this missive arrives. I want to take this opportunity instead to examine a wider issue that has been under examination recently, and one that is going to become quite topical for all governments as they begin to chart a way to recovery: do government deficits matter anymore?

Asset Allocation Outlook September

Read more

Asset Allocation Outlook

The Asset Allocation Desk

Joost van Leenders

Ivo Kuiper

Luc Aben

Kim Lubbers

Martijn Gerrits