3 Key Points From Fund Managers’ Latest Talkfest
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A cryptocurrency ATM in Miami. Fund managers discuss bitcoin and its counterparts.
Joe Redl/Getty Images
These are tough times to be an investor. And the bad news keeps coming: interest rates are rising, inflation is high, the war in Ukraine continues, China’s crisis deepens, and both stocks and crypto are crashing.
With turmoil and uncertainty on the global stage, investors and financial advisors gathered in Chicago to discuss the markets and investment outlook and where to bargain. Here are three key points from the Morningstar Investment Conference:
Love it or hate it, bitcoin is here to stay
Last week, the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies fell, regaining a bit of ground this week. So what is the future of cryptocurrency?
Mark Casey, portfolio manager at Capital Group, said his approach is contradictory. “Every project I’ve read about crypto sounds like garbage to me, and there’s really no real reason for it other than bitcoin, which I think may be one of the most important inventions in human history,” he said. said.
Although he is optimistic about bitcoin, he acknowledged that it is still in its early days. “I think it’s a very early invention. It’s very speculative and it could fail,” Casey said. At the same time, he adds, “It’s a very important invention. I think it could be a big deal in the long term.”
Where bitcoin will trade in the future, said Christopher Lynn, portfolio manager at Fidelity Investments, “No one has any idea what the price of bitcoin or any cryptocurrency is going to do over the next 1–3-5-10 years.” with any degree of accuracy or precision.”
He said he is neither bullish nor bearish, “because that means I know what price is going to do. I don’t know what price is going to do. But I think the technology is gorgeous.” And software could be extraordinarily valuable as computing advances.”
Opportunities abound for ESG investors
The cost of clean energy solutions was “as recently as 10 years ago,” said Lucas White, portfolio manager for GMOs. The technologies were so uncompetitive that they were only in use for public policy support. Now, transformative changes in sectors such as auto manufacturing, utilities and water have created a plethora of opportunities that are no longer dependent on government aid, he said.
Greenhouse-gas emissions make up most of the headlines when it comes to climate change, with water posing a major risk to businesses and investors. Lisa Beauvillan, head of sustainability and ESG at Impax Asset Management, said water is “very important for climate solutions” because it “will be a manifestation of climate in many ways, too much, or too little.”
It wants to invest in water through three lenses: infrastructure, which includes pipes, valves and pumps; water treatment and recycling; and water utilities.
Ukraine has already defeated Russia
“Ukraine has already won this war,” said former US ambassador to the Russian Federation Michael McFall. “Putin has failed in all but one of his major objectives.”
Those objectives include the reunification of Russia and Ukraine; To “reject” Ukraine through regime change; demilitarization; capture the capital Kyiv; and occupied major cities in the east. Progress seems possible at this point only in the Eastern Donbass region.
“just [Russia] The military is down to change objectives,” McFall said. “This is the defense of the Donbass, the independence of the Donbass. [Putin] Everything has been moved there to try to connect Crimea with the Donbass.”
McFaul said Putin “has lost a big war…
As for what happens next, he said there were two relatively unlikely outcomes:
“I think there is a low probability that Putin will win the Donbass and reach Kyiv. It is not zero,” he said. “Another low probability, but not zero, is that the Ukrainians drive the Russians out of their country. . I think it’s higher than the first one.”
The most likely outcome, McFall said, is that the fighting in the Donbass goes on for “several weeks, maybe months, where the borders don’t change that much, and then there are some very difficult decisions that President Zelensky in particular will have to make. Will he.” Sign a ceasefire and agree to disagree about boundaries or do they continue to fight?
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