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Emerging markets funds catch a wave in mid-January
Emerging markets funds catch a wave in mid-January

Flows into EPFR-tracked Emerging Markets Equity Funds during the third week of January climbed to their highest level since mid-1Q21 as investors positioned themselves for China’s much anticipated economic rebound and, the anti-inflation rhetoric of the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank (ECB) notwithstanding, an early end to the current interest rate cycles in the US and Europe. Investors also steered $2.5 billion – a 101-week high – into Emerging Markets Bond Funds.

2022: A tale of active versus passive
2022: A tale of active versus passive

The final week of 2022 saw EPFR-tracked Bond Funds post consecutive weekly outflows for the first time since mid-October, capping a year when the overall group smashed its previous outflow record as central banks scrambled to contain inflation running at multi-decade highs.
Behind the headline number, however, was a marked shift from active to passive management.

Waiting on the central bankers in early June
Waiting on the central bankers in early June

With the European Central Bank meeting the day after the latest reporting period and US Federal Reserve policymakers convening five days later, flows to EPFR-tracked fund groups were predictably subdued in early June. Investors opted for liquidity, with flows into Money Market Funds hitting a nine-week high, while steering clear of most fund groups tied to European and emerging markets assets.

Central banks: Operating in the post-Covid policy environment
Central banks: Operating in the post-Covid policy environment

In the aftermath of the Covid pandemic’s initial onslaught, central bankers proved their policy toolkit had not – as feared – been exhausted by the great financial crisis of 2008-09 and its aftermath. Furthermore, the experience of combating the GFC taught them to deploy that tool kit quickly and decisively. But, especially in the case of the US and Europe, those central bankers were slow to dial back their support as the global economy rebounded from the initial shock of the pandemic. Many now stand accused of stoking inflationary pressures. With inflation hitting multi-year highs in the US and Europe and fiscal discipline in many countries now honored mainly in the breach, central bankers face a new set of challenges.

Caution reigns in early October
Caution reigns in early October

The first week of October saw US lawmakers sparring over the country’s debt ceiling, authorities in China scrambling to limit the wider damage property giant Evergrande’s debt crisis may cause, and central bankers from Canada to Poland wrestling with the tradeoff between economic growth and rising prices.