The tariff policy escalations at the start of Q2 2025 by the current administration have shaken global markets and raised uncertainty to historically high levels. The resulting policies negatively impacted liquidity, while the decline in equity and fixed income markets also led to the denominator effect in asset allocators’ portfolio…
Economic Reflections
Q1 2025 Market Commentary
Despite the optimism at the start of 2025, the escalation of a trade conflict initiated by the US introduced notable volatility and uncertainty into global equity markets. During the quarter, global equities returned -1.3%, international developed, emerging markets…
Examining Values-Aligned Investing
Values-aligned investing continues to reshape the investment landscape, with $6.5 trillion in US assets under management (AUM) explicitly marketed as Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) or sustainability-focused investments…
After Liberation Day: What Can Tariffs Accomplish…and When?
On April 2, 2025, President Trump announced a new tariff regime that surprised most observers with its severity, and many risk assets have responded with significant losses and volatility. The risk asset downturn reflects, at least in part, the increased probability...
2025 Tariffs
President Trump and his administration have implemented several tariffs, resulting in an unpredictable environment for investors and considerable market volatility. The administration has ascribed a broad set of goals to tariffs, relating to domestic manufacturing,...
2025 Capital Markets Forecast
In our Capital Markets Forecast published at the beginning of 2024, we noted that the challenges we faced included the fight against inflation, the outcome and path forward from the November elections, and current and potential geopolitical crises in Europe and the...
The 2024 U.S. Elections – What’s Next
The election results are in, with the outcome of a Republican sweep of the presidency, Senate, and House of Representatives. This shift in power signals changes in fiscal, regulatory, and monetary policies that could shape the U.S. economic landscape for years to...
The 2024 U.S. Elections in Perspective
The potential impact of the 2024 U.S. elections on financial markets is on investors’ minds. And rightly so, as elections certainly have implications regarding the country’s direction. According to Gallup, the top concern among voters in 2024 is the economy, including...
2024 Capital Markets Forecast
For the past decade, Syntrinsic has developed our annual Capital Markets Forecast to inform long-term strategic asset allocations and near-term tactical shifts. Our long-term return assumptions for each asset class are based on quantitative building blocks that are...
2023 Mid-Year Capital Markets Forecast
Creating forecasts in a world that regularly surprises remains humbling. March of 2020 brought COVID, while February of 2022 had Russia unexpectedly invading Ukraine. And March 2023 saw unanticipated—though perfectly logical—stressors on regional and local banks in...
Russell 1000 Value 2022 Observations
This sector attribution report for the iShares Russell 1000 Value Index ETF (IWD) covers January 1 – June 20, 2022. The Russell 1000 Value Index measures the performance of the large-cap value segment of the US equity universe, including companies with lower...
This is a Test. This is Only a Test.
It has been a while since we have been tested like this. While we have experienced a few downturns in the past decade, there has been nothing like the current market environment. With the spread of COVID-19 in February 2020 into a global phenomenon, risk assets fell...