Coronavirus, Interest Rates & Volatility – Where Do We Go from Here?

Getting paid for the risk investors take is important for any market environment, but especially in this period of historic volatility. Many investors are preparing for the adjustments they need to make to their portfolios in light of the current environment.

This webcast will provide insights into:
•How factors have performed in bear markets and during heightened volatility, with a deeper dive on quality, value, low volatility and dividend yield
•How to navigate using factors to position portfolios and efficiently manage portfolio risk during extreme volatility
•Current factor valuations and our outlook for factors amidst the COVID-19 Crisis

As markets continue to experience extreme volatility swings, it’s leaving investors with a number of key considerations (and questions) around portfolio re-balancing, potential shifts in asset allocation and what the future market implications of Coronavirus may be.

Key topics:
•The progression of Coronavirus
•Positioning portfolios to weather the storm
•Navigating the fixed income market during a sell-off

As COVID-19 and economic uncertainty continues to shake global markets leading to unprecedented market volatility and Fed rate cuts, this webcast will provide a fixed income market update, outlook and insights into portfolio positioning.

Join our global head of fixed income as he shares our view on market liquidity, interest rates, credit spreads, money markets, and tactical opportunities in the investment grade and high yield space.

As market volatility, geopolitical risks and economic uncertainty continue to shake global markets, it’s critical for institutional investors to re-evaluate their risk positioning. This means running portfolios as risk-efficient as possible and mitigating the “hidden risks” that commonly exist in their portfolios.

Join our experts as they reveal a more precise approach to portfolio construction that leverages both targeted factor exposures and ESG research.

Key discussion points include:
• The factors that stand to benefit from the structural shifts in the global economy and increased market volatility.
• How ESG research can complement factor exposure to increase excess return consistency and mitigate downside risk.
• Implementing a risk-aware approach that minimizes unintended risk and seeks to maximize risk-adjusted returns.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION
This material is directed to eligible counterparties and professional clients only and should not be relied upon by retail investors. The information is not intended for distribution or use by any person in any jurisdiction where such distribution would be contrary to local law or regulation. Northern Trust and its affiliates may have positions in and may effect transactions in the markets, contracts and related investments different than described in this information.

Investing involves risk- no investment strategy or risk management technique can guarantee returns or eliminate risk in any market environment. Simulated past performance and actual past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Northern Trust Asset Management is composed of Northern Trust Investments, Inc. Northern Trust Global Investments Limited, Northern Trust Fund Managers (Ireland) Limited, Northern Trust Global Investments Japan, K.K, NT Global Advisors Inc., 50 South Capital Advisors, LLC and investment personnel of The Northern Trust Company of Hong Kong Limited and The Northern Trust Company.

© 2019 Northern Trust Corporation

Are your portfolios positioned to handle the current market environment? Increasing volatility spikes, a downgraded global growth outlook and falling interest rates have created an uncertain backdrop for advisors in 2020. Join our chief investment officer and head of quantitative strategies as they reveal the key market themes, risk outlook and tactical opportunities that are driving the firm’s most important asset allocation decisions today.
Gain practical insights into:
•Strategic and tactical portfolio considerations around growth, volatility and interest rates
•Current market risk cases and their potential impact on portfolios
•New ways to de-risk portfolios and navigate volatility more efficiently

Get an inside look into the key investment themes driving our tactical outlook and asset allocation in the coming year.

Join our Chief Investment Officer and Chief Investment Strategist as they explore:

-Economic growth: slow but resilient
-Monetary and fiscal policy: accommodation leads to coordination?
-Tactical positioning: equities, high yield and real assets

Over the past 10 years, many value strategies have suffered from the use of over simplified metrics and inefficiencies in portfolio construction. We believe the Value factor is still robust and can generate excess returns over the long term.

In this webinar, our quantitative research team explores how taking a multi-dimensional approach and combining value with specific factors may improve risk-adjusted returns. Key topics include:

UNDERSTANDING THE VALUE CYCLE
After a prolonged period of underperformance, the macro environment seems to be shifting in favour of the value factor.

THE IMPORTANCE OF DEFINITION AND METRICS
A holistic approach based on current, normalized and prospective valuations, along with consideration of regional and sectorial specifics is essential to identify undervalued stocks.

MITIGATING UNINTENDED RISKS
Combining Value with Quality and Momentum whilst remaining country and sector neutral helps maximise the intended factor exposure within a risk-controlled framework.

Presented by:
Michael Hunstad, Phd, head of quantitative strategies and Diana Olteanu-Veerman, quantitative equity senior strategist - Northern Trust Asset Management

Moderator: Brendan Maton

Get an inside look into our new capital market assumptions research, including key investment themes shifting global risk, return and asset allocation over the next five years — and what it means for investors.

Key themes include:
-Global Growth Restructuring
-Irreconcilable Differences
-Executive Power Play

Slowing global growth — and the drag on performance that may result — means investors are searching for innovative ways to achieve their desired outcomes. They may find the answer in strategies that package investment skill, risk management and tactical flexibility, all in one.

Advisors spend about 25 hours a week on investment functions, cutting into time for finding new clients and building holistic financial plans for current clients. Not to mention time for today’s increasingly complex fiduciary responsibilities. Here’s how multi-asset strategies can help.

Slowing global growth — and the drag on performance that may result — means investors are searching for innovative ways to achieve their desired outcomes. They may find the answer in strategies that package investment skill, risk management and tactical flexibility, all in one.

Advisors spend about 25 hours a week on investment functions, cutting into time for finding new clients and building holistic financial plans for current clients. Not to mention time for today’s increasingly complex fiduciary responsibilities. Here’s how multi-asset strategies can help.

Market volatility persists and volatility spikes are becoming more frequent. Recently, interest rates have started moving lower and are expected to continue their decline. Add in lower global growth forecasts and it’s time to revisit expectations for factor performance.

Join the Quantitative Research team as they explore the following topics:

-Structural shifts in the market volatility regime and how Low Volatility and other factors stand to benefit.
-Factor performance across interest rate regimes and how factor strategies with better risk controls help manage interest rate risk across the portfolio.
-Factor performance and valuation globally.

Current macroeconomic circumstances combined with exceptional asset performance over the past decade are lowering return expectations going forward. This context will make it challenging for pension funds, insurance companies and other liabilities managers to achieve their returns objectives with a traditional core/satellite approach.

Join our webinar where Michael Hunstad, PhD, Head of Quantitative Strategies and Jordan Dekhayser, CFA, Head of Quantitative Equity Research and Strategy will explore the following three topics that take another look at portfolio construction:

- Factors at the Core
Efficiently designed factor-based strategies are ideal for the core of a portfolio because they may provide higher returns than a pure passive portfolio for a modest amount of active risk, resulting in a considerably higher information ratio.

- The Tracking Error Challenge
Calibrating tracking error is crucial to target higher returns while mitigating the probability of underperformance. Staying disciplined during inevitable cyclical drawdowns is harder than it sounds but well worth it in the long run.

- Multi-Factor Portfolios
Because style factors are prone to sustained periods of underperformance, combining different factors that are unique drivers of return can help smooth down the cycles. We will look at the most efficient multi-factor strategies and how they help meet investors’ specific objectives.

Presented by:
- Michael Hunstad, PhD, Head of Quantitative Strategies, Northern Trust Asset Management
- Jordan Dekhayser, CFA, Head of Quantitative Equity Research and Strategy, Northern Trust Asset Management

Moderated by:
- Brendan Maton, IPE

There have been more than 48 large volatility shocks since 2007*, and this pattern is unlikely to change. Institutions around the globe are finding themselves in a unique market environment as a result of seismic shifts in market fundamentals, central banks lowering interest rates and questionable quantitative easing programs. Government agencies continue to use these levers in a manner that is unsustainable – making volatility more prevalent and unpredictable than ever before.

Join Michael Hunstad, Ph.D., Head of Quantitative Strategies and Jordan Dekhayser, CFA, Head of Quantitative Equity Research and Strategy, as they discuss key approaches to help capitalize on the new age of portfolio risks:

• Uncover the common pitfalls in traditional portfolio de-risking methods
• What to look for in low volatility investment strategies (spoiler alert, it’s not just lower beta exposures)
• Potential changes to your passive core portfolio that will strengthen your active satellite

*Volatilty shocks greater than 5 points. Volatility increases are represented by any increase in the VIX daily, as of December 31, 2018.

Note: By registering for this webinar, you agree to share your contact information with, and be contacted by, Northern Trust Asset Management.

Value stock returns have been lagging growth stocks for a number of years, leading to mixed performance for investors. Our experts discuss the need for valuation models to evolve to deal with secular trends in the economy and industry sectors to effectively capture the Value factor.

As sustainable investing becomes increasingly important to investors, we will also dive deeper into the performance drivers of ESG strategies.


Key topics:

-Capturing the Value Premium in the "New" Economy
-Breaking down ESG Performance
-Factor Valuations and Forecasts

This time we will be examining in-detail how the world’s largest asset owners are using multi-factor portfolio construction to overcome the twin challenges of slow economic growth and market volatility.



Some key points we will address during the webcast:



- Identifying key portfolio risks: sector concentrations, interest rate sensitivity and hidden risks you may not be aware of


- Examining real world portfolios: completion strategies and multi-factor construction techniques
- Positioning your portfolio for success: factor performance across various market environments



Note: By registering for this webcast, you agree to have your contact information shared with Northern Trust Asset Management.

We have lowered our expectations for the U.S. Treasury 10-year yield and now think the Fed will cut rates later this year. CIO Bob Browne explains.

Markets steadily trended up during the first quarter. On the surface the picture seems quite rosy but a look under the hood reveals a market that has reached a boiling point. Head of Quantitative Strategies Michael Hunstad explains.