THE WisdomTree BLOG
Gold’s reaction to turmoil in Turkey is disappointing so far. However, this is not uncommon in the initial stages of a crisis. Investors are likely to have a good entry point to build a hedge. Concerns over gold being sold by the Turkish Central Bank could be weighing on the metal, but the risk of any draconian action by the central banks should increase gold prices in our opinion.
On 23 July 2018, China’s state council executive meeting hosted by Premier Li Keqiang announced the fiscal and monetary policy will be further fine-tuned aiming to boost domestic demand. Here are some key points to come out of the state council executive meeting.
Markets are reflecting strong concerns over the stewardship of President Erdogan in the wake of imposition of US sanctions that is causing the Turkish Lira to depreciate further and its benchmark bond yields to hit historic highs. The Turkish economy remains vulnerable as its current account deficit is the widest among emerging markets and inflation levels are nearly three times the central bank’s target.
Market capitalization-weighted benchmark indices—such as the S&P 500—have enjoyed a remarkable run of performance in the US. 2017 was a great year but as we look back at the first half of 2018, available evidence could indicate that the second half of 2018 could be a real challenge. In this blog we look at whether a multi-factor strategy could help us navigate uncertain times.
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) de-facto eased policy at their latest board meeting on 31 July 2018. On top of their long-standing policy of quantitative and qualitative ease, they made clear their commitment to allow a de-synchronization between US rates rising and Japanese rates staying anchored around zero.
Allocations to cash make sense—particularly to fund spending requirements over the short-term – but of course the greater defensive positions, the less potential upside participation. What if there were asset-allocation strategies that reduced volatility but still participated on the upside?
The slowdown of global ETP flows in June 2018 resonated concerns over uncertainty tied to trade wars and ensuing protectionist policies. After posting a strong and consistent start to 2018, the pace of commodity ETP flows in June declined the most followed by equity linked ETP flows while investors took shelter in fixed income ETPs that rose the most across all asset classes.
At WisdomTree we are constantly analysing our strategies to add value over standard market capitalization-weighted approaches. In this blog Christopher Gannatti discusses what made quality a great strategy in the Eurozone in the first half of 2018 and going forward.
Nitesh Shah
Director, Research
Nitesh is a Commodities Strategist at ETF Securities. Nitesh has 13 years of experience as an economist and strategist, covering a wide range of markets and asset classes. Prior to joining ETF Securities, Nitesh was an economist covering the European structured finance markets at Moody’s Investors Service and was a member of Moody’s global macroeconomics team. Before that he was an economist at the Pension Protection Fund and an equity strategist at Decision Economics. He started his career at HSBC Investment Bank. Nitesh holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics and a Master of Arts in International Economics and Finance from Brandeis University (USA).
Christopher Gannatti
Head of Research
Christopher Gannatti began at WisdomTree as a Research Analyst in December 2010, working directly with Jeremy Schwartz, CFA®, Director of Research. He is involved in creating and communicating WisdomTree’s thoughts on the markets, as well as analysing existing strategies and developing new approaches. Christopher came to WisdomTree from Lord Abbett, where he worked for four and a half years as a Regional Consultant. He received his MBA in Quantitative Finance, Accounting, and Economics from NYU’s Stern School of Business in 2010, and he received his bachelor’s degree from Colgate University in Economics in 2006. Christopher is a holder of the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Aneeka Gupta
Associate Director of Research
Aneeka Gupta is Associate Director of Research at WisdomTree. Prior to the acquisition of ETF Securities in April 2018, Aneeka worked as an Equity & Commodities Strategist at the company. Aneeka has 10 years of experience working as a Research Analyst across a wide range of asset classes. In her current role she is responsible for conducting analysis for all in-house commodity and macro publications and assisting the sales team with client queries around products and markets.
Prior to ETF Securities, Aneeka worked as an Equity Sales Trader at Sunrise Brokers across US and Pan European Exchanges. Before that she worked as an Equity Derivatives Sales Manager at Mashreq Bank in Dubai.
Aneeka holds a Bsc in Mathematics from the University of Delhi and a Masters in Mathematics from Oxford University and is also a CFA Charterholder.
Prior to ETF Securities, Aneeka worked as an Equity Sales Trader at Sunrise Brokers across US and Pan European Exchanges. Before that she worked as an Equity Derivatives Sales Manager at Mashreq Bank in Dubai.
Aneeka holds a Bsc in Mathematics from the University of Delhi and a Masters in Mathematics from Oxford University and is also a CFA Charterholder.
Nick Leung
Research Analyst
Nick Leung is a Research Analyst for WisdomTree in Europe. He is responsible for macroeconomic commentary and analysis, formulating investment strategies and trade ideas, as well as the maintenance of research collateral. Prior to joining in 2015, Nick was at Source, having completed his Master’s Degree at Imperial College London. During this time he was also involved in an ice-cream entrepreneurship project with Unilever. Nick holds a BA in Economics from the University of Nottingham.
Jason Guthrie
Director of Capital Markets
Jason Guthrie is Director of Capital Markets for WisdomTree in Europe. Guthrie is responsible for ensuring smooth trade execution across WisdomTree’s UCITS ETFs and Boost ETPs throughout Europe, Israel and Latin America. Prior to joining WisdomTree, Guthrie worked at Deutsche Bank within its ETF Capital Markets group. Before Deutsche Bank, he worked at Macquarie Bank as an Investment Executive based in Sydney, Australia. Jason holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) from Macquarie University in Sydney.
Jesper Koll
WisdomTree's Head of Japan
Jesper Koll was appointed Chief Executive Officer of WisdomTree Japan on July 1, 2015. Over the past two decades Jesper has been consistently ranked as one of the top Japan strategists/economists, working as Chief Strategist and Head of Research for major U.S. investment banks J.P. Morgan and Merrill Lynch. His analysis and insights have earned him a position on several Japanese government advisory committees and Jesper is also one of the few non-Japanese members of the Keizai Doyukai, the Japan Association of Corporate Executives. He has written two books in Japanese, Towards a New Japanese Golden Age and The End of Heisei Deflation. After arriving in Japan in 1986 Jesper initially worked as an aide to a Member of Parliament. Jesper has a Masters degree from the School of Advanced and International Studies at Johns Hopkins University and was a research fellow at both Tokyo University and Kyoto University. He is a graduate of the Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific.
Florian Ginez
Research Analyst
Florian Ginez is a Research Analyst for WisdomTree in Europe. He is responsible for market analysis, formulating investment and hedging strategies, trade ideas, as well as the development of products collateral and automating research processes. He also works closely with WisdomTree’s Quantitative Group on data analytics. Florian joined WisdomTree in 2016 after he started his career as an Assistant Portfolio Manager at Amaïka Asset Management in Paris, researching factor investing. Florian holds a Master’s degree from Reims Management School.
Vania Pang
Capital Markets and Investment Solutions, Index and Quantitative Investment, ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management (International) Company Limited
Ms. Pang is responsible for Capital Markets and Investment Solutions functions of the Index and Quantitative Investment department at the ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management (International) Company Limited. From 2012 to 2016, Ms. Pang was the Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Development, Asia Coal Limited, where she led the strategic mergers and acquisitions, capital raising and investor relations management. Prior to that, she was the Associate Director, Business Development of Crown One Asset Management Company Limited, responsible for sales and marketing of fund products. Between 2007 and 2008, Ms. Pang was Assistant Manager, Public Distribution Hong Kong (Equity Derivatives and Private Investor Product Sales) of RBS, handling sales and marketing of listed equity derivatives products. Before joining RBS, she was an anchor and reporter with the Cable TV and Hong Kong Economic Journal.
Ms. Pang holds a M.Sc. in Development Finance from The University of Manchester, a M.A. in Journalism and a B.A. in Business Administration from The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Ms. Pang holds a M.Sc. in Development Finance from The University of Manchester, a M.A. in Journalism and a B.A. in Business Administration from The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Jack Jiang
Senior ETF Specialist, Index and Quantitative Investment, ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management (International) Company Limited
Mr. Jiang joined ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management (International) Company Limited as Senior ETF Specialist of Index and Quantitative Investment Department in November 2017. Before joining ICBC CS (International), Mr. Jiang was Director, Head of China in the client coverage team of S&P Dow Jones Indices, where he led the effort on sales and marketing in China. Prior to that, he was the head of the sales team of Dow Jones Newswire in China. Mr. Jiang had also worked for Platts, another subsidiary of S&P Global as Head of Beijing office. Mr. Jiang holds double degree, a Bachelor degree of Economy in International Economy and Business, and a Bachelor degree of Science in Automobile Engineering, with a minor degree in Computer Science, from Beijing Polytechnic University.