Jeroen Boogaard

Shares of companies that are good for the world often manage to strengthen their competitive position at the expense of unsustainable companies. Their growth potential is often still underestimated by the market, according to Hendrik-Jan Boer, senior portfolio manager of Neuberger Berman’s Global Sustainable Equity strategy.

Expensive US growth stocks need not suffer from reflation and rising interest rates. On the contrary, they will thrive thanks to their pricing power, says Ton Wijsman, senior portfolio manager at AllianceBernstein and former director at W.P. Stewart.

Strong inflows into clean energy ETFs have pushed valuations of the various subsectors higher. To mitigate downside risks, a broader perspective on the sustainability theme is needed. Semiconductor manufacturers in particular are interesting, says Thiemo Lang, manager of the RobecoSAM Smart Energy Fund.

The share prices of European banks have been rising in recent months, and their rally has further to go. In the long term though, structural underperformance will continue, believes Jonathan Fearon (pictured), investment director European Equities at Aberdeen Standard Investments.

Despite its recent slide, the US dollar is still overvalued. In time, the greenback could go much lower. This has positive implications for European, Japanese and EM equities, but is a bad prospect for Wall Street, according to Michael Devereux, multi-asset fund manager at Schroders.

Low interest rates, moderate inflation and a strong recovery in corporate profits. For the time being, the environment for equities remains extremely favourable, according to James Ashley, Head of International Market Strategy at Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM).

Investors should focus on cyclical equities, which benefit from a strong economic recovery. At the same time, they should use options and own some gold and Treasuries to protect their portfolio, according to Andrew Harmstone, head of Global Balanced Risk Control Strategy at Morgan Stanley.

In response to the SRI trend, State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) has been expanding its offering of ESG products. But these funds do not replace non-sustainable variants, says Carlo Funk, head of ESG investment strategy for EMEA at SSGA.

The expected returns on US value stocks are attractive compared to growth stocks. As a coronavirus vaccine is now around the corner, the global economy will pick up next year. This will be supportive for long-term outperformance of value stocks, according tot Christian Correa, President and Chief Investment Officer of Franklin Mutual Series.

Oil stocks have never been so cheap, but there are no signs yet that prices have bottomed out. We’re still waiting for a turn in market sentiment, say head of Automated Intelligence Equity Tjeerd van Cappelle at NN Investment Partners and NN Energy fund manager Anastasia Naymushina (photo).