Should you be worried about inflation? By Calvin Lim 25 May 2021
Concerns around inflation and the associated impact on various asset classes have been rising over recent months as the global economy shifts from worries about disinflation driven by COVID-19 demand destruction, towards concerns of rising inflation due to the subsequent rebound in economic activity post-COVID. With the economic recovery comes the potential for pent-up demand from consumers to be unleashed as they generally have a much better balance sheet by means of an increased savings rate resulting from fewer areas to spend on during COVID, combined with unprecedented levels of fiscal stimulus.
“China equity funds recorded their 30th consecutive retail inflow despite last week’s institutional exodus. Institutional investors were net redeemers for the second straight week as they looked to sidestep any fallout from official efforts to keep the COVID-19 pandemic contained going into the Chinese New Year, usually a period when millions of people travel within the country,” EPFR said.
EPFR found that Israel’s aggressive vaccination rollout program and its reputation in the cybersecurity space attracted investors looking at Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) markets and flows into Israel equity funds were the largest since Q2 of 2008.