Citi Private Bank today released its Outlook report for 2020, titled, “Staying Positive in a Negative (Yielding) World.” The twice-yearly publication provides in-depth insights into the global economy and financial markets for the coming year, and highlights important multi-year investment themes for client portfolios.
The report highlights Citi Private Bank’s view that global economic growth can endure through 2020 given expectations that corporate earnings will continue to grow at a solid pace; global equities may continue to rise higher; and with global fixed income yields at record lows, they anticipate the sector will continue to struggle in 2020.
“The year ahead promises to be an eventful year for investors,” said David Bailin, Chief Investment Officer, Citi Private Bank. “Our Outlook 2020 cuts through the noise and focuses on what really matters for our clients’ wealth and provides sector recommendations to potentially enhance total return profiles.” He continued, “We believe global growth can continue next year and advise staying fully invested and take notice of unstoppable trends increasingly shaping investments.”
Given the current global context of excessively negative sentiment and negative yields, Citi Private Bank calls for important changes in its Outlook 2020 to build stronger, globally diversified portfolios of different asset classes for positive yield growth. These include a shift in how investors seek portfolio income and sets out two broad investment themes.
First, Citi Private Bank encourages investors to look beyond bonds as they seek income. They advise replacing some bonds with select equities that have a history of earnings and dividend growth; allocating more to value-oriented and cyclical equities, as rates are likely to rise modestly; and for those willing to increase their risk profile, implementing capital markets strategies and private market investments in portfolios.
Citi Private Bank also sets out “unstoppable trends” – major, long-term forces that it expects will shape the world economy over the coming years and will endure whatever happens to the economy. These three trends are the pressing need for cybersecurity to protect our increasingly digital lives, innovative technology that will revolutionize the financial services industry and the shift towards cleaner, more sustainable sources of energy.
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