Equity investors were less optimistic in February than they were in January. The MSCI global equity index fell by 3.0% . Emerging market equities noted the biggest loss at 6.5%, followed by the Pacific region with a drop of 5.0%. In the US, the equity market was down by 2.6%. Only Europe kept its feet dry thanks to a gain of 1.9%. Since the low in September, European equities have climbed twice as fast as US equities.

Please see Kempen’s Asset Allocation Outlook for March. The highlights this month are: 

• Slowdown in growth not as bad as feared, inflation more stubborn than expected
• Investors now share the outlook of central banks
• Cautious investment policy unchanged