Market & Investment Risk Insights - Global Equities

In this insightful webinar, Melissa Brown examines the critical events that drove risk and return in H1 2025 - from shifting investor sentiment to capital flight and evolving US-China relations. She reveals that most factors saw larger-than-expected returns. And, while they were quite volatile over time, they were generally in the “expected” direction.

Melissa presents three distinct market periods: "Great Expectations" (Oct-Jan) driven by post-election optimism, "Fatal Attraction" (Jan-Apr) marked by surging uncertainty, and "Silver Linings" (Apr-Jun) fueled by hopes for trade deals. Using Axioma risk models, she demonstrates how to contextualize bottom-up information within broader macro perspectives.

Watch to learn how to decode complex market signals and optimize risk management in today's markets.

Key findings:

• Policy uncertainty reached record highs in Q2, with the April 2 reciprocal tariff announcement triggering a fundamental shift in global risk dynamics
• Factor returns showed extreme dispersion across style, industry, country and currency dimensions, creating both unprecedented risks and opportunities
• From trade fears to deal hopes, Q2 demonstrated how quickly market narratives can shift, reinforcing the need for adaptive risk management frameworks

Curious to uncover deeper analysis on factor behavior during volatile periods? You can also read our latest article: Liberation Day Frenzy and nonlinear factors.

Speaker

Melissa Brown, Head of Investment Decision Research, SimCorp