Investing for a new decade
The next 10 years are sure to bring a different set of opportunities and obstacles than the past 10.
BOLDER THINKING FOR BETTER OUTCOMES
As we enter a new decade, the global investment community is faced with a startling set of challenges. The 2010s saw the longest bull market in history, while also experiencing unprecedented low inflation. At the same time, the decade brought with it a resurgence of nationalism and protectionism, and the return of great-power geopolitics. Investors enter 2020 with lofty stock prices, low to negative bond yields, trade tensions and a coming U.S. election that promises to have profound implications for both domestic and international policy. It all makes for a muddled future.
"Our focus has always been on the long-term trends and undercurrents that can lead to unique and untapped investment opportunities for our clients."
At PGIM, our focus has always been on the long-term trends and undercurrents that can lead to unique and untapped investment opportunities for our clients. The investment ideas offered here reflect the global footprint of our businesses, the deep asset-class specialization of our boutiques, and the informed convictions of our portfolio managers who partner with investors every day around the world. Indeed, a major advantage of PGIM’s business model is that we can offer our clients specialized expertise at-scale from businesses that are autonomous and nimble.
All of this brings us to PGIM’s clarion call for 2020, which is the need for bolder thinking to get to better outcomes.
The past decade has been a great teacher of humility. As such, the ideas we’ve laid out are not intended to serve as a panacea for the uncertainty that is sure to come. Instead, our aim is to shed light on a host of areas that we believe offer some of the more promising opportunities for investors who are open to being bold in their thinking and decisive in their investing.
In a world where the patterns of the past may be less than instructive, we believe that through bold insights and conviction, PGIM and its clients are favorably positioned to navigate the future ahead.
FILLING A VOID WHERE BANKS ONCE STOOD
Ask investors what their biggest concern is and many will cite the ongoing uncertainty in global financial markets. Cynics might actually say that the direct lending asset class, which primarily exists to finance higher risk leveraged transactions, is at risk of a slowdown.
RESILIENCY AND AN IMPROVING BACKDROP
Emerging markets showed their resiliency in an uncertain environment last year, and with the support of a global economic landscape that appears relatively stable, EM debt remains generally well positioned as 2020 commences.
RETIREMENT INCOME IN DC: THIS TIME IT’S DIFFERENT
Generating income in retirement remains one of the Holy Grails of investing. For plan sponsors looking to design and implement robust offerings, the challenges are many, including demographics and an ever-changing regulatory environment.
REAL ESTATE: THE GROWING OPPORTUNITIES IN DEBT
Debt has always been a component of a real estate investor’s arsenal, but only in recent years has it become a more ubiquitous asset class for institutional investors.