European investors face more asset allocation challenges in 2022

Since the Global Financial Crisis, it has been a turbulent ride for investors the world over. Europe has certainly been no exception: investors in the region have had to adapt to a high-risk environment. And as COVID-19 has introduced a new set of challenges to portfolio construction and return generation, robust risk management strategies are a top priority; wealth protection is as important as growth.

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Yield compression and margin levels raise concerns about market risk

We’ve regularly discussed rates and inflation in 2021 as two key drivers of global markets. With lower expected future returns on fixed income, these drivers give credence to the idea that many institutional investors would need to move further out on the curve (take more risk) and/or use leverage to meet their financial obligations. Both of which now appear to be happening.

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India’s gold market in July: imports rebound as retail demand improves with easing of lockdown restrictions

Retail demand was mixed in June: moderate strength in the first half of the month was followed by a softening of demand in the second half due to an absence of wedding dates. Official imports rebounded with easing of lockdown restrictions and the local market flipped back to discount as demand softened from mid-July onwards

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Markets stifled on Freedom Day

Monday, July 19 marked an eagerly anticipated milestone for the UK. ‘Freedom Day’ as it was dubbed, officially closed the chapter on over a year of local COVID-19 restrictions. But it arrived amidst soaring cases of COVID-19 worldwide – the UK included. Concern over the new variant strains has not only put a dampener on the reopening in the UK, but perhaps the global economic recovery.

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China’s gold market in June: Chinese gold ETF holdings rose despite a fall in the gold price

International gold prices fell steeply in June. The weakness in the gold price can be largely attributed to the more-hawkish-than-expected monetary-tightening signals from the US Federal Reserve’s meeting on 18 June.  But the decline in the RMB gold price was narrower than that of the USD gold price, thanks to a 1.6% depreciation in the CNY against the dollar last month. 

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India’s gold market in May: retail demand collapsed amid COVID-induced lockdowns

Summary

  • The domestic gold price ended 5.1% higher in May at Rs48,993/10g 
  • Retail demand collapsed amid COVID-induced lockdowns in the country 
  • Indian official imports slowed and the local market flipped to discount 
  • Monthly inflows into gold ETFs slowed as higher returns lured investors towards the equity market. Total holdings for Indian gold-backed ETFs (gold ETFs) reached 33.2t by the end of May; a net inflow of 0.1t (Rs2.9 bn; US$39mn)
  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) added 0.9t of gold to its reserves in the month increasing its total gold reserves to 696.2t.
     

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