Relative Outperformance of CIO Barbell Strategy in 2022
Despite a turbulent year, the CIO Barbell Strategy has managed to stay resilient with relative outperformance over the market benchmark
Chief Investment Office7 Dec 2022
  • CIO Barbell Strategy remained resilient in 2022 despite extreme market turbulence
  • Year-to-date, the CIO Barbell Strategy has outperformed the benchmark by 19 bps
  • Positive momentum for the strategy has been on the rise since mid-October
  • Since inception, the strategy has returned 12.0% and outperformed the benchmark by 178 bps
  • Investors should employ the strategy to capitalise on the emerging trends of 2023
Article image
Photo credit: iStock
Read More

Resilience of CIO Barbell Strategy in a turbulent year. 2022 is shaping up to be a year like no other as both equities and bonds fell in tandem amid Russia-Ukraine geopolitical tension and the Fed’s hawkish pivot.

Despite this turbulence, the CIO Barbell Strategy has managed to stay resilient with relative outperformance over the market benchmark (consisting of 50% global equities and 50% global bonds). Listed below are the details:

Outperformance (year-to-date): The CIO Barbell Strategy was down 14.6% this year (as of 1 December) and this constitutes a marginal outperformance of 19 bps over the benchmark which fell 14.8%.

The recent positive momentum for CIO Barbell Strategy is gathering pace as the latter has recovered 12.7% (net-of-fees) since mid-October, compared to the benchmark’s total return of 11.5%.

Our positioning in technology, commodities, China equities, and gold securities are driving the outperformance.

Outperformance (since inception): The CIO Barbell Strategy has registered 12.0% total returns (net-of-fees) since inception, outperforming the benchmark’s total return of 10.2% by 178 bps.

The encouraging relative outperformance was driven by our conviction in growth equity themes like Semiconductors, Cyber Security, IC Design, and Healthcare.

Stay the course; employ holistic portfolio approach to navigate market volatility. We remain constructive on the long-term outlook of risk assets. As we head into 2023, we expect the following themes to drive the narrative:

  • Moderation in US inflation and for US policy rate to peak in 2023
  • Rising recession risks to weigh on corporate earnings. High quality companies with strong market positioning are set to outperform
  • Investment opportunities to emerge as China reopens

We advocate investors to employ a holistic portfolio approach via the CIO Barbell Strategy to ride and capitalise on the emerging trends of 2023.

Download the PDF to read the full analysis.

Topic

Disclaimers

This information herein is published by DBS Bank Ltd. (“DBS Bank”) and is for information only.  This publication is intended for DBS Bank and its subsidiaries or affiliates (collectively “DBS”) and clients to whom it has been delivered and may not be reproduced, transmitted or communicated to any other person without the prior written permission of DBS Bank. 

This publication is not and does not constitute or form part of any offer, recommendation, invitation or solicitation to you to subscribe to or to enter into any transaction as described, nor is it calculated to invite or permit the making of offers to the public to subscribe to or enter into any transaction for cash or other consideration and should not be viewed as such.

The information herein may be incomplete or condensed and it may not include a number of terms and provisions nor does it identify or define all or any of the risks associated to any actual transaction. Any terms, conditions and opinions contained herein may have been obtained from various sources and neither DBS nor any of their respective directors or employees (collectively the “DBS Group”) make any warranty, expressed or implied, as to its accuracy or completeness and thus assume no responsibility of it. The information herein may be subject to further revision, verification and updating and DBS Group undertakes no responsibility thereof.

All figures and amounts stated are for illustration purposes only and shall not bind DBS Group. This publication does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any specific person. Before entering into any transaction to purchase any product mentioned in this publication, you should take steps to ensure that you understand the transaction and has made an independent assessment of the appropriateness of the transaction in light of your own objectives and circumstances. In particular, you should read all the relevant documentation pertaining to the product and may wish to seek advice from a financial or other professional adviser or make such independent investigations as you consider necessary or appropriate for such purposes. If you choose not to do so, you should consider carefully whether any product mentioned in this publication is suitable for you.  DBS Group does not act as an adviser and assumes no fiduciary responsibility or liability for any consequences, financial or otherwise, arising from any arrangement or entrance into any transaction in reliance on the information contained herein.  In order to build your own independent analysis of any transaction and its consequences, you should consult your own independent financial, accounting, tax, legal or other competent professional advisors as you deem appropriate to ensure that any assessment you make is suitable for you in light of your own financial, accounting, tax, and legal constraints and objectives without relying in any way on DBS Group or any position which DBS Group might have expressed in this document or orally to you in the discussion.

Any information relating to past performance, or any future forecast based on past performance or other assumptions, is not necessarily a reliable indicator of future results.

If this publication has been distributed by electronic transmission, such as e-mail, then such transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of the Information, which may arise as a result of electronic transmission. If verification is required, please request for a hard-copy version.

This publication is not directed to, or intended for distribution to or use by, any person or entity who is a citizen or resident of or located in any locality, state, country or other jurisdiction where such distribution, publication, availability or use would be contrary to law or regulation.

If you have received this communication by email, please do not distribute or copy this email. If you believe that you have received this e-mail in error, please inform the sender or contact us immediately. DBS Group reserves the right to monitor and record electronic and telephone communications made by or to its personnel for regulatory or operational purposes. The security, accuracy and timeliness of electronic communications cannot be assured.