Many investors were cautious at the beginning of the year, but the market ($SWDA.L) has returned +19% for the year to date, our portfolio +20%.
There are a couple of reasons for this year’s rally. First, economic growth in 2023 is turning out to be better than feared. Asset manager KKR expects the US economy to grow 1.8% this year, above consensus expectations of 1.1%.
mcusercontent.com/6750faf5c6091bc898da154ff/files/7f359fce-7b3d-1e5e-671a-5b9af800e4ed/mid_year_update_2023.pdf
Second, inflation is coming down and may soon hit central bank targets.
twitter.com/AndreasSteno/status/1685945688226484224
The market may rally a little further, because indicators such as Bank of America’s Bull and Bear have not yet hit overbought levels.
But we don’t think a new bull run has started. Our view is that inflation and interest rates will stay at elevated levels in this cycle, which will cap market valuations.
Inflation will be driven higher by structural factors: a persistent labour shortage, the energy transition and higher oil prices. As KKR argues in their mid-year report linked to above, “capital discipline […] could support durable long-term pricing that averages closer to $80 per barrel, up from the pre-pandemic range of $50-60 per barrel.”
As a result of higher inflation, tighter central bank policy, capital spending to support the energy transition, and high government debt levels, KKR expects the German 10-year interest rate to increase from 2.5% today to 2.75% by the end of the year, and to 3.0% in 2024.
If that happens, we would expect Growth stocks to be the relative losers, and Value stocks from the Energy, Mining, and Financials sectors to be the relative beneficiaries.
2023 performance YTD
@triangulacapital +20.1%
$SWDA.L +18.7%
Portfolio changes
None