MSCI ESG Research has issued its 2019 ESG Trends to Watch Report, which identifies five key ESG trends in 2019 and the potentially overlooked costs and opportunities underlying these themes...

In recent weeks, market conditions switched swiftly from panic mode to exuberance mode. Active investors are scratching their heads as markets no longer seem to be discounting a U.S. recession and any Fed rate hike in 2019.

One way to look at low global inflation is as evidence of policy successes on the part of countries' central banks — especially in Emerging Market (EM) countries, where inflation rates are often below their central bank targets.

The positioning of CTAs and Global Macro strategies on equities remains very cautious at present. Meanwhile, long Fixed Income positions have increased over the past few weeks. The stance has thus turned more defensive, even though the outlook on EM assets has turned more constructive.

Looking back at 2018, it was a year when European corporate earnings continued to grow, while market volatility was surprisingly high. The volatility was a result of both political noise and the fear of a slowdown in global growth.