Since the beginning of the year, the real estate investment trust (REIT) sector has significantly underperformed in the broader market. We build a case for cautious optimism regarding the sector’s current prospects.

July has delivered a tough month for equity markets, compounding what was already a tough first half of the year. With concerns remaining around inflation and the increasing probability of a global recession we share our views for the Focus List in July.

Macquarie (MQG) is a quality business with the proven ability to position itself to take advantage of secular growth opportunities. We think the medium- to long-term opportunity for the Group is significantly stronger than other large cap financials on the market.

As central banks around the world joined a global rush to raise interest rates, we share how we’re balancing the risk/return profile of the Focus List as uncertainty around the risk of recession continues to bite.

As household spending begins to normalise over the next 12 months, we look at the outlook for earnings in a post-COVID world.

May was a tricky time to be an Australian investor with the market falling 3% over the month, underperforming the MSCI World ex Australia (-1.1%). We look at the market’s key concerns over the month and explain the changes we’ve made to the Focus List in June as a result.

Volatility in the markets causes investors to seek ways to mitigate that risk. Including quality or defensive stocks in a portfolio may be a good solution, with the return and volatility of quality defensives being historically superior to those of broader equities during choppy market conditions.

With already tight oil and gas markets getting tighter as a result of the Russia/Ukraine crisis, some lost production now looks irreversible, adding another significant tailwind to the energy outlook over the next few years.