2019 Hedge Fund

Acquisition International - Hedge Fund Awards 2019 13 Gold And Oil Will Be Best Performers In 2019 According to MPG MPG believes the inflation-proofing qualities of commodities means the asset class will appeal to investors generally as the US economy continues to show signs of overheating. In particular, gold is set to see a significant increase in value, possibly as high as 20%, as investors seek safety in the face of continued uncertainly around equities and more interest rate rises putting pressure on bonds. Oil prices will be boosted as a result of diminishing spare global capacity, sanctions on Iranian exports and political uncertainty in Saudi Arabia creating additional inflationary pressures globally, the company says. Jeremy Leach, Chief Executive Officer, MPG, commented: “Key drivers of an equities bear market will be Brexit uncertainty, further tightening of monetary policy on both sides of the Atlantic, political gridlock and trade tensions – all forcing equity values lower in the UK, Europe and the USA. “While many analysts think the S&P 500 will end 2019 higher than its current level, this is optimistic given that recession is widely predicted for 2020 and a bear market for US equities is more likely in 2019. “European equities remain overpriced and the eurozone will experience slower growth in 2019, owing to monetary-policy tightening, cessation of QE, trade frictions and the unsustainable debt dynamic in Italy and Greece.” As investors seek alternative investments in 2019, one asset class they will find increasing attractive is life settlements, which are US- issued life insurance policies that have been sold by the original owners at a deep discount to their maturity values and are institutionally traded through a highly-regulated market. The asset class is currently offering internal rates of return of around 14.7%.1 Jeremy Leach commented: Commodities, especially gold and oil, is the mainstream asset class most likely to deliver positive returns in 2019, while equities on both sides of the Atlantic will end the year lower ahead of a recession increasingly expected in 2020, according to Managing Partners Group (MPG), the international asset management group. B “2019 will be the year of value and investors will find it difficult to find assets offering returns as favourable as life settlements. At 14.7% the IRR on life settlements is still significantly higher than the risk-free rate, so now is still a good time to invest in the asset class, especially now when the consensus is that under-supply will push up prices.”