Practical analysis for investment professionals
20 November 2017

Investment Strategies amid Uncertainty

“What do you do in today’s market?” asked moderator Susan J. Schmidt, CFA, senior vice president, senior portfolio manager, and research analyst at Westwood. “Given all that’s going on . . . what do you worry about the most in today’s market?”

Three panelists provided their answers during the recent CFA Institute Alpha and Gender Diversity ConferenceKim Shannon, CFA, the founder, president, and CIO of Sionna Investment Managers; Jennifer Stevenson, vice president and and portfolio manager at 1832 Asset Management; and from the fixed-income side, Jennifer Lippin Rexinis, director and investment product specialist for the global product group at MFS Investment Management.

Their discussion covered topics ranging from the macro views — the outlook for interest rates and bond strategies to weather the current uncertain economic environment — to an examination of equity valuations. It concluded with a consideration of why fundamentals matter in the energy sector and tailwinds for investments.

So what are the panelists concerned about? On the equity side, “Valuations overall are quite high,” Shannon said. “We’re a bit long in the tooth and vulnerable for a bit of a correction.” On fixed income, Rexinis commented, “If you’re going to think about investing next dollars and asset classes that are favorable, have you set up your defense? . . . If you don’t have your fixed income dialed into play [defense] for you, considering you’re in a relatively modest volatility type of environment, I think you need to make sure you’ve dialed in that risk and you’ve dialed in your defense.”

To listen to the full discussion, click on the video link below. To read the full transcript scroll down.


Video



Transcript

INVESTMENT STRATEGIES THAT PERSIST THROUGH UNCERTAINTY
KIM SHANNON, CFA, JENNIFER STEVENSON, JENNIFER LIPPIN REXINIS, SUSAN J. SCHMIDT, CFA, Moderator

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All posts are the opinion of the author. As such, they should not be construed as investment advice, nor do the opinions expressed necessarily reflect the views of CFA Institute or the author’s employer.

Image courtesy of Nicola Laing

About the Author(s)
Susan Hoover, JD

Susan Hoover was the editor of Connexions, the CFA Society Leader newsletter, and the digital editor of Enterprising Investor at CFA Institute. Prior to CFA Institute, Hoover worked for McCallum & Kudravetz, PC, and the US Department of the Navy in real estate and labor law. Hoover earned the CFA Institute Investment Foundations™ Certificate and holds a BA degree from Lehigh University and a JD degree from the Washington College of Law, American University.

1 thought on “Investment Strategies amid Uncertainty”

  1. Kirk Cornwell says:

    Fixed income “defense” is not rewarded for the risk involved if interest rate (and deficit) hawks ever actually appear. We have yet to pay the piper for the absurdities of protracted low rates and quantitative easing on a parabolic scale. The adjustments suggested to date are token and could be reversed by two straight months of shakey “data”. Yes, income from the energy sector might actually be a form of defense again.

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