Macro thoughts and portfolio themes

Markets are grappling with 40-year highs in inflation and a Fed that is way behind the curve (and acknowledging it).

The war in Ukraine only serves to exacerbate the inflationary backdrop due to Russia and Ukraine being major global suppliers of energy, metals and agricultural products as it heightens supply shortages and drives prices higher. Now the big question is the knock-on impacts of monetary tightening and inflation on growth. The recent COVID-19 outbreak in China and their zero covid policy is adding to emerging concerns on economic growth.

In order to tackle major shortages – of everything from commodities to labor to housing – the Fed needs to restrain asset prices to further tighten financial conditions. While this should mitigate certain cyclical drivers of inflation, secular forces remain and should make inflation stickier, even in a lower growth environment. Deglobalization / reshoring, ESG / energy transition, and the increasing leverage of the worker (unions, etc.) will prove to have lasting inflationary impact on the economy.

We believe it’s important to approach this phase of the inflationary regime with a different roadmap. Our focus has been on adding strategies that should benefit from a more volatile, uncertain market backdrop. If you posit, as we do, that an inflationary regime will persist, then you need strategies that can provide returns in both reflation and stagflation. This is why we have focused on building exposure to Commodities, Discretionary global macro trading and Fixed Income Relative Value (FIRV) over the past months and year. There is a very broad distribution of possible economic outcomes from here, so we prefer to keep our beta low and be positioned with tactical managers that can move their feet.

Portfolio positioning

We have focused on building exposure to Commodities, Discretionary global macro trading and Fixed Income Relative Value (FIRV) over the past months and year

  • Commodities are in the midst of a super cycle with massive supply / demand imbalances and structural tailwinds from the energy transition and geopolitical tensions.
  • We believe that the unanchoring of inflation – and its forcing of central banks’ hands to action – creates a robust opportunity set for Discretionary global macro funds.
  • Within Relative Value, we continue to emphasize FIRV above all other sub-strategies.
  • Our allocations to Equity Hedged, while still substantial, are likely to be slightly reduced overall, with some realignment across focus and geography.
  • In Credit / Income, we favor highly tactical, low net Corporate Long / Short to navigate what we anticipate will be a more difficult credit environment, paired with targeted exposure in ABS and Agency MBS.
In order to tackle major shortages – of everything from commodities to labor to housing – the Fed needs to restrain asset prices to further tighten financial conditions.

CIO model portfolio and sub-strategy outlook

Equity Hedged

Sub-strategy

Sub-strategy

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

Sub-strategy

Fundamental

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

15-

Sub-strategy

Equity Event

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

8

Sub-strategy

Opportunistic Trading

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

12

Sub-strategy

Equity Hedged Total

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

35

Credit/Income

Sub-strategy

Sub-strategy

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

Sub-strategy

Distressed

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

1

Sub-strategy

Corporate Long/Short

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

9+

Sub-strategy

Asset Backed Securities

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

4

Sub-strategy

Reinsurance / ILS

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

1

Sub-strategy

CLO/Corporate Lending

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

-

Sub-strategy

Other Income

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

1

Sub-strategy

Credit/Income total

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

16

Relative Value

Sub-strategy

Sub-strategy

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

Sub-strategy

Merger Arbitrage

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

1 -

Sub-strategy

Capital Structure/Volatility Arb

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

4

Sub-strategy

Quantitative Equity

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

4

Sub-strategy

Fixed Income Relative Value

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

11 +

Sub-strategy

Agency MBS

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

3

Sub-strategy

Relative Value total

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

23

Trading

Sub-strategy

Sub-strategy

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

Sub-strategy

Systematic

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

2

Sub-strategy

Discretionary

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

13 +

Sub-strategy

Commodities

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

10 +

Sub-strategy

Trading total

Q2 2022
Forward looking target weight %

25

Fundamental -

  • Our overall allocations to Equity Hedged remain substantial, but we will likely reduce Fundamental approaches in Q2 as we realign across focus and geography.
  • Inflation readings and tighter financial conditions may result in fundamental stock selection continuing to take a back seat to more top-down considerations.

Merger Arbitrage -

  • We expect M&A volume to be soft and regulatory scrutiny of deals continues to rise not just within the US, but also within the EU, UK, and Japan.
  • When combined with the ongoing macro and geopolitical uncertainties, we are cautious on the strategy despite somewhat wider, but volatile, spread levels.

Discretionary +

  • Several DM central banks commenced hiking cycles, providing opportunities in the front end of yield curves.
  • Along with directional rates and yield curve trading, varying speeds of policy normalization and economic divergence provide cross-market opportunities.
  • Global macro funds are typically well-placed to perform in a recession or risk-off move.

Commodities +

  • During an inflationary environment, we believe Commodities offer plentiful alpha opportunities and correlation benefits for portfolios.
  • Our emphasis is on managers who can trade both directionally and relative value, seeking alpha and tactical beta, within a disciplined risk framework.

Strategies

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