Afghanistan: Quality set to beat 'risk on stocks' amid global political turmoil

New report from Investment Metrics

Defensive and high-quality stocks across UK, European and US markets, particularly those with a high proportion of gross profits relative to assets, are likely to outperform while political and humanitarian turmoil remains in place in Afghanistan, according to research from Investment Metrics.

The report, which was published today (13 September) and is entitled Factors in Regime Change, took into account three examples of sudden significant regime changes that have occurred over at least six-month periods since 1 January 1980: the fall of the Soviet Union between August 1991 and December 1991; the Kosovo War between February 1998 and June 1999; and the Arab Spring between January 2011 and July 2012.  Taking these three time frames into account, Investment Metrics found that quality-factor stocks achieved average monthly returns of 22 and 13 basis points in the US and pan Europ...