The global economy has experienced a type of regime shift in response to the pandemic, and the recovery that follows will not be typical of historic recoveries following periods of recession and stagnation. Since the pandemic began, our outlook has been influenced by virus-related developments and fiscal stimulus, with consumer spending particularly sensitive to changes in these developments. With our focus on this, we have changed our current twelve-month forward outlook to three months of Growth, followed by nine months of Stagnation, as we have seen evidence of a stronger recovery rebound since the start of the year.
Governments around the world are signaling that they will maintain fiscal support, with the U.S. administration set to lead the way by turning its attention to a multi-year infrastructure package. At the same time, major central banks are expressing a willingness to maintain accommodative stances despite a near-term inflation bounce, as they encourage an inflation overshoot and a rebound in inflation expectations. Incoming reports raise estimates of global GDP growth to 4% in 2021.1
China’s current account surplus widened to 2.0% of GDP in 2020, amounting to US$298.9 billion, compared to US$141.3 billion (1.0% of GDP) in 2019.2 On the merchandise trade front, China’s export sector was boosted by PPE and tech-related products. The steep decline in oil prices also cut China’s import bill by US$67.8 billion (or 26.5%) in 2020.3 In Western Europe, industrial activity and construction have continued to expand even as a weak service sector depresses GDP. Strong manufacturing is largely driven by the export-oriented German economy, where the manufacturing output index jumped 3.2%.4
In the U.S., the new stimulus package should boost an economy that is already off to a better-than-expected start to the year. The U.S. earnings season has been very strong, with the Q4 2020 earnings growth rate for the S&P 500 at 3.9%.5 Retail sales surged 5.3% in January.6 Manufacturing output continued to climb rapidly through January and most housing indicators showed strong levels of activity. The Canadian economy (outside of the hospitality sector) continued to show resilience through the second wave of lockdowns as households and businesses adapted to tighter restrictions and the number of new COVID-19 cases continues to trend down. Retail sales were impacted by new containment measures but have remained resilient relative to the collapse in the spring. Manufacturing has been less severely impacted by the second wave of lockdowns with sales gradually converging back towards year-ago levels.
Global central banks have effectively taken interest rates to zero, driving nearly all sovereign debt to negative real yields. With less opportunity for yield across fixed income assets – especially those of shorter duration or higher quality – investors will likely continue to shift exposure to riskier assets. The S&P 500 posted a loss for January of 1.01%. Smaller caps outperformed, with the S&P MidCap 400 and the S&P SmallCap 600 up 1.5% and 6.3%, respectively. U.S. fixed income performance was mostly negative, particularly in corporates. Canadian equities posted losses, with the S&P/TSX Composite down 0.3%. The S&P Europe 350 erased its gains in the final day of January, leaving the continental benchmark with a total return of -0.8%. The S&P United Kingdom was down 0.6%. Asian equities began 2021 strongly. The S&P China 500 was up 4.8% and the S&P Hong Kong BMI was up 3.4%. Australian equities managed a gain with the S&P/ASX 200 up 0.3%, continuing a recent strong run which has seen it gain 12% over the last three months.
Equity exposure across all models reflects our view that markets are looking through the uncertainty of the pandemic and towards the resumption of more normal life once populations are vaccinated. In February, we shifted a portion of the gold exposure into U.S. Midcap Equities to reflect the updated outlook to near-term growth. Across the Conservative, Moderate Growth, Growth, and Aggressive Growth models, we added 8%, 10%, 12%, and 14% respectively. We continue to include some exposure to gold as a stabilizer in this volatile environment. Shorter duration fixed income has been maintained as the U.S. economy normalizes and inflationary pressures are rising.
The economic reopening and the global stimulus that is underway will lead to improved household liquidity, a wealth effect from rising asset values and lower consumption, healthy consumer balance sheets, and a healing labor market. Our approach to portfolio management is nimble, opportunistic, and deliberate in identifying asset classes that are best placed to generate returns in a new world order. Our focus is on protecting portfolios from downside risk, and we believe that our investment process is working to achieve that goal.
Deborah Frame, President and CIO
1 World Bank. Global Economic Prospects. January 2021.
2 Trading Economics. China Current Account. January 2021.
3 Trading Economics. China Imports. January 2021.
4 Trading Economics. Germany Exports. January 2021.
5 FactSet. Earnings Insight. February 26, 2021.
6 Trading Economics. U.S. Retail Sales. February 17, 2021.
Index return data from Bloomberg and S&P Dow Jones Indices Index Dashboard: U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, Fixed Income. January 29, 2021. Index performance is based on total returns and expressed in the local currency of the index.
