Inside, you will find a summary of market activity and our market outlook.
Volatility cut both ways in Q3, lifting global equities to new year-to-date highs at July’s end before a late-quarter pullback set in. While negative sentiment could keep weighing on equities in the near future, we think the bull market’s backdrop looks bright. Economic conditions appear better than most everyone expected, gridlock continues sapping legislative risk, and broader EM data has shown resilience. Better still, year four of the US presidential cycle lies ahead, extending political tailwinds globally through 2024 at least. With politics largely gridlocked throughout the developed world and sentiment broadly dour, reality has a low bar to clear to beat expectations.
Sentiment is behaving typical of an early bull: Recirculated fears over inflation, US politics, a pending recession and narrow market breadth have dragged expectations lower. Yet the economic reality is brighter than these fears imply—providing room for upside surprise.
Anticipation is mitigation: Widespread recession forecasts thus far haven’t been realized and businesses have already taken cautionary measures to mute a potential recession if one comes.
Fourth year of a US president’s term is a tailwind: Global political gridlock will continue to sap legislative risk for the rest of this year and into next, an underappreciated positive.
Investing in stock markets involves the risk of loss and there is no guarantee that all or any capital invested will be repaid. Past performance neither guarantees nor reliably indicates future performance.
Fisher Investments Australasia offers a variety of Global, Non-US, and US Equity strategies for institutional investors. FIA delegates portfolio management to its parent company, Fisher Investments, a money management firm in the US founded in 1979 by investment guru Ken Fisher. Today, Fisher Investments and its affiliates oversee more than $406 billion* in assets for over 150,000 clients globally.* Founder Ken Fisher’s “Portfolio Strategy” column for Forbes ran from 1984 through 2016, making him the longest continually running columnist in the magazine’s 90+ year history. He has also authored several New York Times bestsellers on finance and investing. (*As of 31/03/2024)
For your reference, Fisher Investments Australasia is an investment manager located in Sydney. The parent company, Fisher Investments, is based in the United States, and manages assets for large institutional clients around the world.