An update on global markets (with a deep dive into ETFs)
11 Nov, 2022
Sponsored by Invesco
On 8th November 2022, our Founder & CEO Holly Mackay was joined by Adrian Kidd, Financial Life Planner and EQ Coach, and Dr Christopher Mellor, Head of ETF Equity and Commodity Product Management at Invesco, for our webinar 'Thematic Investing with ETFs - Clean Energy'.
They discussed and took your questions on all things related to current global markets, with a deep dive into ETFs. You can watch the full webinar replay by clicking the link below!
Hand-picked highlights
1 – Christopher talks about the current state of play in markets
Christopher Mellor, Head of ETF Equity and Commodity Product Management at Invesco, shared his views on what's happening in markets at the moment. Clearly we’ve recently seen falls across the board. US shares are down, bonds markets have been wobbly, and there are no obvious markets or regions immune to the current downturns. Here's what Christopher had to say about what on Earth's going on!
2 - Adrian talks about interest rates and fixed mortgages
Financial planner Adrian Kidd shared his views on the outlook for interest rates and what this means for mortgages. As usual, no-one has a crystal ball and these are opinions only – but his view is that markets over-reacted and we might well see rates start to fall in the second half of next year.
3 – Christopher talks about hedging and currency
We also discussed the impact of currency. We’ve all heard about the weak pound, but the flip side of this is a strong dollar, which means that anyone holding US shares will have had an extra boost from its strength lately. Now that sterling is limping along the floor, if we think that things will improve, we might consider ‘hedging’ and taking currency moves out of the equation. Here’s what Christopher had to say about it.
What we discussed
With more and more of us looking for a quick and easy way to diversify without the hassle of doing it yourself, ETFs offer a great opportunity to do just that, and there are many on the market today that allow you to put your money into businesses that are working towards a cleaner and greener future too.
But ETFs and Clean Energy investments have been growing in popularity against a rather dismal backdrop of soaring inflation, biting interest rates and stock market pessimism, so we asked the experts to tell us their thoughts on what’s going on with ETFs, particularly those with a Clean Energy theme, and what you can expect to see over the coming weeks and months.
Among the topics we discussed were:
Why 2022 has been a uniquely uncomfortable year for many investors
The volume and nature of inflows into ETFs in recent months
What tactical asset allocation shifts are and why they can be helpful in times of economic turbulence
The gap between current inflows into Clean Energy investments and the amount that the UN has stated is necessary to meet current climate targets
Why China and South Korea offer a unique and often-overlooked opportunity for Clean Energy investments, particularly in relation to solar and hydrogen technology
What the ‘core and satellite’ investment approach is, why it can be useful if you’re looking to balance returns with your personal values, and why it’s an increasingly popular way of incorporating sustainable ETFs into a portfolio
To hear Holly, Adrian and Christopher shed some light on ETFs and Clean Energy, click the link at the top of this page for a free replay!
Our audience polls
We ran a few polls during the course of the webinar to find out a bit more about our attendees. Here are some of our key findings:
Do you think now is...?
53% of you think that now is a good time to invest, while 47% of you told us that it's a neutral time to invest. No one said it's a bad time to invest.
Do you own any ETFs?
25% of you said you own ETFs and use them regularly, 28% said you have one or two, while 35% don’t have any and 12% of you weren’t sure what an ETF is.
Do you think clean energy is...?
63% of you said that clean energy represents a great investment opportunity for environmental reasons, while 21% said so for financial reasons. However, 8% of you said you wouldn't invest in clean energy products as they're too specific, and 8% said you think they're being overhyped.
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