Markets Embrace Prospect of Smaller Government

In the latest Strategist's Corner, Rob Almeida examines the role of earnings as the primary driver of market performance, contrasting the MSCI EAFE Index's outperformance during 2000-2008 with its lag over the past 15 years due to weaker earnings. Highlights include how economic shifts, including higher spending, input costs, and investment demands, may set the stage for future EAFE outperformance and underscores the importance of focusing on earnings fundamentals amidst changing global conditions to identify market opportunities.

Global Investment Strategist and Portfolio Manager, Rob Almeida, comments on how active management’s underperformance may stem from suppressed market breadth, how suppressed interest rates distorted capital allocations on the economy and how higher costs and increasing market breadth are now creating opportunities for skilled active managers to differentiate themselves.

A quick analysis of the oil market; focusing on supply and demand dynamics, the impact of geopolitical tensions and structural factors influencing energy prices.