MADRID, 16 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Capital Radio launched its first investment barometer this Monday, carried out with the participation of around twenty managers, and concluded that the sector continues to bet on equities despite the growing interest in fixed income after the increases in interest rates. interest, although the funds are building defensive portfolios in a context of economic slowdown.
The station has detailed in a press release that, precisely, economic growth (with a rate of 47.6%) has put the war in Ukraine in the background as the main element of concern (it barely reaches 4.8%). among managers, while it also presents a greater feeling of pessimism than inflation (33%) and China (14%).
Regarding the preference for stock markets, the barometer has confirmed that in September international variable income funds represented the main investment asset with 57%, while fixed income accounted for 33% of the offering of these asset managers. assets.
On the sector side, those surveyed have indicated healthcare as the most repeated option by managers at the end of September with 19%, since, according to Capital Radio, “it is traditionally considered one of the most defensive by investors because it is characterized by having a good performance in the markets in times of economic uncertainty, due to its low correlation with the economic cycle.”
For their part, the other sectors most frequently reported by investment firms have been banks and microchips, with a rate of 14% each.
The premise of the good future performance of financial entities is based on the increasingly established perspective that interest rates at a high level will remain for a long period of time, while valuations of the technology sector have begun. to adjust downwards but it remains “one of the most interesting bets”.
When asking managers about their preferred investment option, 57% opted for international equities – with a balanced distribution between the United States and Europe – while 33% opted for fixed income and 9.5% have placed monetary funds as their main investment category.
On the other hand, the increases in interest rates in the western economies of the US and Europe have led to a less favorable environment for the financing of emerging economies; Likewise, this strength of the dollar translates into more pressure for these countries and, in addition, China is not recovering at the desired speed after the withdrawal of restrictions due to the pandemic.
In this context, Capital Radio points out that the debt of emerging countries has become the “ugly duckling” of fixed income, since 50% of the managers consulted claim that they have reduced the weight of these assets in their portfolios. of public debt.
This reduction has also been transferred to corporate debt, according to a tenth of those questioned, while almost a fifth of them stated that they did not invest in fixed income.
