Thematic investing – often a tale of two tides

In a world in which the momentum factor is a key driver of investor flows, and where investment sentiment is heavily skewed towards US mega-caps, a contrarian view can pay off. Boston Partners portfolio manager Chris Hart talks about opportunities in healthcare, consumer staples, financials and industrials.

Robeco’s one-year outlook, titled ‘This is not a landing’, looks at how the US economy so far skillfully manages to defy all the indicators flashing an immediate recession risk. Peter van der Welle and Colin Graham discuss a broad range of both regions and asset classes in our latest podcast episode.

What 'four more years of Trump' means for financial markets. Erika van der Merwe with Robeco's Colin Graham and Lauren Mariano.

This has been a landmark year for active exchange traded funds. More than 300 new active ETFs have been launched so far in 2024, and around EUR 200 bln investor flows have made their way into this market segment. Why have investors become increasingly eager to get exposure to these not-so-passive investment vehicles?  

Markets are preparing for lower rates. Fixed income investors who need their portfolios to keep on generating enough income are having to evaluate their options. For those who don't have the stomach for high yield debt, the investment grade segment of the credit market has some interesting possibilities. Tune in to hear Jan Willem Knoll and Daniel Ender discuss the merits of subordinated debt.

Many investors are still underweight emerging market equities. While the asset class outperformed developed markets by a wide margin in the first decade after the millennium, emerging market equity returns have since lagged, leaving investors with a degree of skepticism. But, looking ahead, one cannot deny the immense promise that many emerging markets now offer. Tune in to hear the views of Vicki Chi and Karnail Sangha.

It’s almost unnerving, watching equity-market indices repeatedly touching new all-time highs. Particularly when the gains are founded on a very select group of stocks, while economic indicators are relatively mixed. In such a set-up – we ask portfolio manager Michiel Plakman – what’s the best strategy for managing a market-beating investment portfolio?

What does it take to truly see the significant shifts taking place in the world around us – those structural themes that might be obscured by the noise, but which require investors’ attention? Daniel Ernst and Sam Brasser are passionate about watching the world, discerning persistent themes and forming views on how to construct portfolios to benefit from them. Tune in to our latest podcast episode.

Anticipating how financial markets might react to the US presidential elections is a tough call for investors. Mike Mullaney, Director of Global Markets Research at Boston Partners, gives some clear guidelines on the scenarios.

While the returns of the Magnificent Seven stocks dwarfed the performance of thematic strategies in 2023, the tide may slowly be turning. In this podcast episode we talk to two seasoned thematic investors, Jack Neele and Roman Boner.