Art Of Boring

In this episode, Steven Visscher, lead manager of the balanced strategies, discusses the impact of rising interest rates and inflation on the balanced portfolio in recent years, Mawer’s disciplined and collaborative approach to portfolio construction, and the importance of having a long-term perspective. He spoke about recent changes and additions to the balanced portfolio and provided an update on the performance of the balanced portfolio thus far in 2024. Key Takeaways: Over the last four years, interest rates and inflation have had the most significant impact on the capital markets and the performance of the balanced strategies. Following a surge of inflation in 2022, central banks aggressively hiked rates, which led to the first meaningful loss in a balanced strategy since 2008. After being called into question in 2022, 60/40 portfolios bounced back in 2023 and 2024 following positive fixed income returns, helping support the overall balanced strategy. So far, the market recovery has been led by a narro