Global Balanced portfolio outlook, positioning, and attribution as of 3/31/2021

March 31, 2021

Outlook

  • We expect the global economic recovery to continue in 2021, amid continued U.S. consumer strength and business investment as COVID-19 vaccinations help release pent-up demand in certain parts of the economy.
  • We anticipate positive equity market returns this year as rising earnings expectations for cyclical stocks should offset a likely decline in valuation multiples, which is typical early in a cycle.
  • Internationally, European economic growth is likely, in our view, to be materially lower than that of the U.S. in Q1 due to renewed lockdown measures, while economic data has shown that Emerging Asia leads other regions in its economic recovery, which should support positive GDP and earnings growth in 2021.
  • Even though economic and market risks remain, including potential for higher interest rates and higher taxes in the U.S., we believe the global economic recovery will continue to progress and an overweight of economically-sensitive sectors is appropriate.
  • We anticipate intermediate and longer-term interest rates could continue to rise moderately in 2021, driven by rising real yields and inflation expectations, though we believe core inflation is likely to remain at moderate levels consistent with the previous economic cycle given ongoing slack in the economy.

Portfolio Positioning

  • Sector allocation will be increasingly important in the U.S. in 2021, in our view, as the ongoing recovery and expansion drive a rebound in earnings for cyclical sectors and areas of the economy hardest hit by the pandemic, such as retail, travel, and leisure.
  • Given our outlook for the global economic recovery to continue in 2021, as well as the prospective interest rate and political environments, we have increased the strategy’s equity allocation and reduced the fixed income allocation.
  • Over the past year, we have reduced exposure to less economically-sensitive equity sectors such as large-cap U.S. Consumer Staples and Utilities.
  • We maintain an overweight of Emerging Asian equities, which provides favorable sector exposure with positive secular trends; we maintain an underweight to Europe and Japan.
  • Within the fixed-income allocation, we maintain an overweight to investment-grade corporate bonds and a lower average duration than the benchmark to manage interest rate risk.

Q1 Attribution

Positive Contributors:

Overweight

  • U.S. Large-Cap Energy Equities

Underweight

  • Long-Term Bonds
  • Fixed-Income Allocation

Negative Contributors:

Overweight

  • Intermediate-Term Bonds

Underweight

  • North America ex-U.S.
  • U.S. Large-Cap Materials

Attribution Analysis is relative to the Global Balanced benchmark and was current as of the date specified in this presentation. A complete attribution report is available upon request.

The most recent complete presentation can be viewed here.

Any portfolio characteristics, including position sizes and sector allocations among others, are generally averages and are for illustrative purposes only and do not reflect the investments of an actual portfolio unless otherwise noted. The investment guidelines of an actual portfolio may permit or restrict investments that are materially different in size, nature and risk from those shown. The investment processes, research processes or risk processes shown herein are for informational purposes to demonstrate an overview of the process. Such processes may differ by product, client mandate or market conditions. Portfolios that are concentrated in a specific sector or industry may be subject to a higher degree of market risk than a portfolio whose investments are more diversified.

Holdings, Sector Weightings and Portfolio Characteristics were current as of the date specified in this presentation. The listing of particular securities should not be considered a recommendation to purchase or sell these securities. While these securities were among WestEnd Advisors’ Global Balanced holdings at the time this material was assembled, holdings will change over time. There can be no assurance that the securities remain in the portfolio or that other securities have not been purchased. It should not be assumed that recommendations made in the future will be profitable or will equal the performance of the securities presently in the portfolio. Individual clients’ portfolios may vary. Upon request, WestEnd Advisors will provide a list of all recommendations for the prior year.

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