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4 years ago
In the below interview, Christian Gattiker, Head of Research at Swiss Wealth Manager, Bank Julius Baer talks about how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the way clients view investments and what are the key trends shaping the world of tomorrow. How would you describe the current investment scenario in a world that is still tackling the challenges presented by the pandemic? The current investment regime is a globally synchronised and mostly V-shaped recovery, helped by heavy monetary and fiscal stimuli. The world economy entered a synchronised shock-like recession in H1 2020 and is now recovering at different speeds. The main divergence in the speed of the recovery is the amount of fiscal and monetary stimulus available. The US, China and Japan have experienced a 10% downswing in economic output, while Continental Europe has experienced 15% and the UK 20%. Emerging markets have been hit hard but at varying degrees by the pandemic, with Latin America still in the doldrums. We expect most of the mature economies to compensate for about half of the shortfall during Q3, with a much slower pace thereafter. China is the exception, since the world’s second largest economy is back at pre-crisis levels as we speak […]
4 years ago
Patrik Lang, Head of Equity Research and Strategy, Bank Julius Baer In March, within a few weeks, the outbreak of the coronavirus led to an unprecedented sell-off on global equity markets, with the S&P 500 dropping 35%. From mid-March onwards, the S&P 500 started an equally spectacular rally, with the S&P 500 gaining almost 50% within less than three months. This came as a surprise to many analysts as fear of a second wave of infection are widespread. In addition to this, many economists only expect an anemic recovery. Equity markets – what to expect Against this backdrop, many investors are anticipating a second market crash. In our view, a major correction is rather unlikely because the economic recovery has already begun and a second wave of infection is unlikely to lead to a general lockdown because most countries will be better prepared for the second wave than they had been for the first one. Countries like Taiwan and South Korea have proven that testing and tracing is a much more efficient way to deal with the pandemic than locking down entire economies. It can be assumed that most countries will follow this example at least as long as no […]
5 years ago
Why did you choose the Food and Beverage industry for your new venture? One of the driving forces of our business group is developing business opportunities. We are here to make profits but with something sustainable and in line with our quality and ethical standards. Now, the food business serves a greater good and provides people with a service they appreciate. Food has a certain quality standard and if you pick the right quality partners, you have succeeded in achieving that quality. We also wanted to diversify our portfolio and the food business seemed to be a potentially profitable and sustainable one. Can you tell us more about Costa Coffee and Al Zayani partnership? We never found the right opportunity to deal with the food franchising business. We wanted something with credibility so that we could develop on it. When the Costa opportunity came, it was available as a master franchise for different territories. We chose to bid only for the Bahrain area because we wanted a global brand which is among the top three brands. At the same time, we wanted something that could be scaled up, teach us the business, and give us a head start. Costa seemed […]
15 hours ago
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