At Marketing Wiz, our team actively monitors global financial markets to contextualize relevant stories for our clients and their stakeholders. This November, here are three themes that can serve as the foundation for a custom long-form article on behalf of your firm:
US Election
- The upcoming US election has considerable implications for the country’s economic and fiscal path. While a Trump presidency will likely bring greater inflationary pressures and higher structural rates, a Harris presidency could mean a less welcoming US business environment.
- Both candidates have embraced deficit spending and expansive industrial policy. Robust government spending will continue to add to America’s national debt and may result in significant crowding-out effects.
- Regardless of which party controls the White House, the market tends to rise over the long term. While investors should be aware of the potential portfolio implications of the election, neither result calls for a significant strategy shift.
Stock Market Concentration
- The concentration of the US stock market remains significantly elevated. The Magnificent 7 makes up nearly one-third of the S&P 500’s market cap and has been responsible for half of the market’s gain this year.
- Investors may be more exposed to the tech sector than they think, even in “diversified” funds. An industry slowdown or waning AI enthusiasm risks dragging broader indexes down too.
- Increased exposure to equal-cap-weighted indexes could help investors take some risk off the table and diversify equity portfolios.
Bond Market Volatility
- Bond markets have been unusually volatile over the past few months, with yields fluctuating significantly. The MOVE index, a key measure of expected bond market volatility, remains at an elevated level.
- This volatility largely stems from increased uncertainty surrounding the future path of Fed policy rates. Themes like demographic trends, dollar dominance, and US political stability are all influencing rate predictions.
- Traditionally, bonds are thought of as a low-volatility component of a portfolio. Rising volatility may motivate investors to shorten duration or increase credit quality within fixed income allocations.
Interested in building out long-form collateral relating to any of these themes? We invite you to reach out to our team today for a discussion of our custom content capabilities.
Craig Hall is founder and president of Marketing Wiz, a financial marketing firm specializing in the independent wealth management space.
