Economic And Market Review: Continue To Recommend Defensive Positioning, Focus On Quality - Q2 2023

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Neuberger Berman
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Summary

  • In March, two high-profile implosions at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank sent tremors throughout the financial sector, reminding markets that the economy remains a complex ecosystem of causes and consequences.
  • In the coming months, we expect more unexpected financial accidents and maintain our view that lower-beta and higher-earnings-quality portfolios should continue outperforming riskier ones, regardless of style, thematic or regional focus.
  • In this edition of our quarterly Equity Market Outlook, we discuss several headwinds that keep us on the sidelines: the increasing number of deteriorating economic indicators, still-rich valuations, stubbornly high inflation and underwhelming growth in Europe and China.

Financial stock market graph illustration, concept of business investment and future stock trading.

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By Raheel Siddiqui

A Solemn March

Extracting the vector of the economic cycle from myriad economic releases can be a frustratingly confusing enterprise. Economic indicators tend not to rise and fall at once, which can lead to picking and choosing

The Cascading Effects of Monetary Tightening - Not Everything Peaks at Once

Source: Neuberger Berman research, FactSet and TMR. For illustrative purposes only. Nothing herein constitutes a prediction or projection of future events or future market behavior. Due to a variety of factors, actual events or market behavior may differ significantly from any views expressed. Investing entails risks, including possible loss of principal. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

For illustrative simplicity, we have charted 34 economic indicators—aggregated into leading, coincident, and lagging categories—since mid-2021 (see figure 2). While the market has swung up and down several times during this period, challenging many investors’ bearish convictions, the total fraction of indicators flashing recessionary signals continues to grow. (For a complete list of indicators, see the Appendix.)

Economic Indicators Chart a Solemn March Toward Recession

Source: Neuberger Berman Research and FactSet. Data as of February 28, 2023.

Tougher Lending Standards Lead Earnings Declines

Source: Neuberger Berman research and FactSet. Data as of March 31, 2023. For illustrative purposes only. Nothing herein constitutes a prediction or projection of future events or future market behavior. Due to a variety of factors, actual events or market behavior may differ significantly from any views expressed. Investing entails risks, including possible loss of principal. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Credit is the oxygen of economic growth. If the economy turns increasingly recessionary in the coming months, we believe more banks will likely feel the need to shore up their balance sheets and further tighten lending standards, which could rapidly push up the cost of capital, reduce the availability of credit, and ultimately accelerate—and deepen—our anticipated decline in corporate earnings.

Backlog Conversion Provided a 6% Boost to Growth

Source: Neuberger Berman research and FactSet. Data as of March 31, 2023. For illustrative purposes only. Nothing herein constitutes a prediction or projection of future events or future market behavior. Due to a variety of factors, actual events or market behavior may differ significantly from any views expressed. Investing entails risks, including possible loss of principal. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Recessionary Stress Not Evident in U.S. Large-Cap Valuation Dispersion

* Valuation dispersion measures the Z-score of the cheapest-quintile of the largest 1,500 stocks versus the median valuation. Source: Empirical Research Partners, National Bureau of Economic Research as of March 15, 2023. For illustrative purposes only. Nothing herein constitutes a prediction or projection of future events or future market behavior. Due to a variety of factors, actual events or market behavior may differ significantly from any views expressed. Investing entails risks, including possible loss of principal. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

The Equity Risk Premium, Now at a Cycle Low, Rises Substantially During Recessions

Source: Societe Generale calculations. Data as of February 2023. For illustrative purposes only. Nothing herein constitutes a prediction or projection of future events or future market behavior. Due to a variety of factors, actual events or market behavior may differ significantly from any views expressed. Investing entails risks, including possible loss of principal. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Sticky Inflation Has Yet To Relent

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Data as of February 28, 2023. For illustrative purposes only. Nothing herein constitutes a prediction or projection of future events or future market behavior. Due to a variety of factors, actual events or market behavior may differ significantly from any views expressed. Investing entails risks, including possible loss of principal. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Financial Conditions Signal Potential Monetary Tightening Ahead

Source: Goldman Sachs. Data represents change in FCI between March 8 and March 31. For illustrative purposes only. Nothing herein constitutes a prediction or projection of future events or future market behavior. Due to a variety of factors, actual events or market behavior may differ significantly from any views expressed. Investing entails risks, including possible loss of principal. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Chinese Stimulus is Having a Diminishing Impact on GDP Growth

Source: Neuberger Berman research and FactSet. Data as of February 28, 2023. Red circles indicate peaks in credit impulses, which have been trending lower. For illustrative purposes only. Nothing herein constitutes a prediction or projection of future events or future market behavior. Due to a variety of factors, actual events or market behavior may differ significantly from any views expressed. Investing entails risks, including possible loss of principal. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Europe’s Monetary Tightening Could Weigh on EPS Through 2024

Source: Neuberger Berman research and FactSet. Data as of March 31, 2023. For illustrative purposes only. Nothing herein constitutes a prediction or projection of future events or future market behavior. Due to a variety of factors, actual events or market behavior may differ significantly from any views expressed. Investing entails risks, including possible loss of principal. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Consensus Expectations Are Slowly Converging Towards Our Trough EPS Estimate

Source: Neuberger Berman, Bloomberg, and FactSet. Data as of March 31, 2023.

Quality and Low-Risk Factors Have Outperformed in Both Growth and Value Styles

Source: PSC. Data from March 1, 2022, to March 24, 2023. For illustrative purposes only. Nothing herein constitutes a prediction or projection of future events or future market behavior. Due to a variety of factors, actual events or market behavior may differ significantly from any views expressed. Investing entails risks, including possible loss of principal. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

This article was written by

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Neuberger Berman, founded in 1939, is a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager. The firm manages a range of strategies—including equity, fixed income, quantitative and multi-asset class, private equity and hedge funds—on behalf of institutions, advisors and individual investors globally. With offices in 23 countries, Neuberger Berman’s team is more than 2,100 professionals. For five consecutive years, the company has been named first or second in Pensions & Investments Best Places to Work in Money Management survey (among those with 1,000 employees or more). Tenured, stable and long-term in focus, the firm has built a diverse team of individuals united in their commitment to delivering compelling investment results for our clients over the long term. That commitment includes active consideration of environmental, social and governance factors. The firm manages $323 billion in client assets as of March 31, 2019. For more information, please visit our website at www.nb.com.For important disclosures: https://www.nb.com/disclosure-global-communications  Contact Us: Advisor Solutions (877) 628-2583 advisor@nb.com RIA & Family Office (888) 556-9030 riadesk@nb.com

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