After a period of low and even negative interest rates in 2020 and 2021, rates soared in 2022 and have remained high. In this article we want to address several topics.
First, we illustrate what the impact on expected returns has been with a Capital Market Assumptions (CMA) model. One of the main observations is that the risk premium of equities versus bonds has declined. The second section provides explanations as well as justifications. In short, a lower equity risk premium (ERP) is not just a reflection of equities being expensive, but is justified as bonds have become riskier relative to equities. Finally, we show the extent to which the change in interest rates and CMAs leads to different ‘optimised’ portfolios. The rise in yields and the lower ERP result in more fixed income assets and fewer equities in portfolios in 2024 than in 2020. Optimised fixed income portfolios, from an asset only perspective, consist of cash and spread products, but do not contain any government bonds. That holds for both 2020 and 2024.
Furthermore, the rise in risk-free yields has resulted in IG Corporates gaining a place in the spread portfolios at the expense of riskier spread products such as emerging market debt (EMD) and high yield. Within equities, developed markets have become less attractive compared to emerging markets due to increased volatility. Finally, lower risk portfolios have experienced an increase in expected return benefitting from higher yields, while higher risk portfolios have become more diversified, as differences in expected returns between (fixed income and equity) asset classes have become smaller.
Interested in learning more?
Read the full article in the latest VBA Journal of CFA Society on pages 31-38.Â
