Risk appetite turns positive
SHORT-TERM TREND
Investor sentiment improves as Omicron worries ease and the Fed affirms policy plans
Risk
- Major global equity indexes gained with large-cap stocks outperforming.
- Technology and growth stocks underperformed the broader market.
- Overall, European stocks did better than the stocks in the United States.
- U.S. Treasury bonds and fixed income securities with high exposure to Treasuries declined.
- Fixed income sectors more sensitive to growth generated positive returns.
- Emerging markets, and other non‐U.S. assets or sectors, benefitted from a stabilizing dollar.
- Commodity prices rose in line with their betas to risk appetite.
LONG-TERM CYCLE
This 10-year illustration captures the cyclicality of investors' appetite for risk.
Sept–Nov '11
Eruption and subsequent clearing of concerns over EU sovereign debt crisis, U.S. debt ceiling, and fear of China hard landing drive major risk sell-off and rally.
March '16–Jan '18
Risk assets rally amid improving commodity prices, perceived stability in China's macro data, and expectations for gradualist Fed policy.
March '20–present
The coronavirus pandemic has created swings in global risk appetite.
Source: Putnam. Data as December 31, 2021. To create the Global Risk Appetite Index, we weigh the monthly relative returns of 30 different asset classes over 3-month T-bills relative to the trailing 2-year volatility of each asset class. The higher the relative return and the lower the volatility, the greater the risk appetite; conversely, the lower the relative return and the higher the volatility, the stronger the risk aversion.