Manager Intelligence and Market Trends

Although managers boosted equity exposure in Q2, the Q1 spike in the bfinance Risk Aversion Index has not substantially softened in Q2, with a range of indicators illustrating the ongoing uncertainty (implied volatilities, gold prices, CDX etc).
On the back of a tumultuous first half, investors have been seeking to dissect their
performance – and that of their external asset managers – through the crisis. One key issue in focus: how does portfolio diversification hold up when risk exposures such as factor intensity suddenly increase?
Strategically, many investors are in “wait and see” mode. Yet the first half of 2020 has
proven to be a remarkably active period for new manager selection activity: 55% of all
manager searches launched by bfinance clients during the last twelve months have
been initiated in the first half of this year.