SINGAPORE (June 17): Singapore finance industry professionals expect the S&P 500 and MSCI World Index to be down 12.5% and 10.4% respectively for this year, according to a survey done by Natixis Investment Managers.
More than half, or 53% of the respondents, believe that the initial volatility caused by the coronavirus crisis as driven more by sentiment than by fundamentals. They are optimistic the market will continue to right itself in the second half of the year. Their main concern is the uncertainty of what happens next, including how investors handle it, according to Natixis.
In Singapore, almost three-quarters, or 75% of the respondents indicated recession fears as a top concern, followed closely by market volatility (73%) and geopolitical events (32%).
About one-fifth of respondents in Singapore (21%) expressed concern about low yields, while liquidity issues were also cited by 27% of those surveyed.
“With economies slowly reopening and global tensions easing, financial advisors around the world are bullish on recovery,” says Madeline Ho, executive managing director, head of wholesale fund distribution, Asia Pacific at Natixis Investment Managers.
“But they are also focused on how to shield clients from the volatility they expect to come with it. The crisis has been a perfect storm for emotional investment decision-making, and with the downturn exposing the limitations of passive investing, the vast majority of advisors are looking to active management in the current environment,” she adds.
Worldwide, finance industry professionals are betting that the US stock market will end this volatile year down just 3.6%. Thus far this year, the US market has dropped as much as 34% although much of the lost ground has been recovered.
Globally, respondents think that by end of the year, the S&P 500 would drop 7% and the MSCI World Index will be down by 7.3%.
The survey was done between March 16 and April 24, 2020, of 2,700 financial professionals in 16 countries, including 150 financial professionals in Singapore.
