Multi-asset teams' sentiment indicator: Interest picking up in small and mid-caps

Scopic Research monitors the sentiment of multi-asset teams towards different growth, defensive, and diversifying assets on a quarterly basis. The sentiments are based on a 12-month view. Investment Week has joined with Scopic to share the results on a quarterly basis. Here, Paul Ilott, managing director of Scopic Research, summarises the findings for Q2 2024.

The relative fortunes for equity and bond investors remain firmly tied to the outlook for inflation and therefore to the level of interest rates that monetary authorities deem best suited to cope with it. Investors are eager for inflation to be contained and for interest rates to be lowered so that current asset prices can continue to go up, or at least for current valuation levels to be justified. Some multi-asset managers are concerned that this may not happen at the pace that investors still expect and they worry that if monetary authorities disappoint, it will put downward pressure ...