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Written by: George Prior
The U.S. Federal Reserve is likely to fail on inflation again by hitting the brakes too hard at its meeting next month and this could send the world’s largest economy into recession, which would have global implications.
This is the stark warning from Nigel Green, chief executive and founder of deVere Group, one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory, asset management and fintech organisations.
It comes as Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said the U.S. central bank needs to move quickly to raise interest rates to around 3.5% this year with multiple half-point hikes and that it shouldn’t rule out rate increases of 75 basis points.
The deVere CEO comments: “After failing to act in time, and with any vigour, the Federal Reserve is now fighting inflation that runs hot at 8.5% - the fastest pace for 41 years.
“The Fed has already failed on inflation with its grand-scale inaction early on. It made a massive miscalculation by the most influential central bank.
“It must not now fail again by hitting the brakes too hard at its meeting next month, and future ones, with excessive rate hikes, which could push the world’s largest economy not only into a short-term but a longer-term recession.”
He continues: “This would not only be a huge issue for the U.S. but the global economy too. As the saying goes, ‘When America sneezes, the world catches a cold.’
“There’s a real risk that oversized interest rate hikes would cause a recession and they may not even slow inflation as the soaring prices are triggered by supply chain issues, the Russia-Ukraine war, and lockdowns in China causing new bottlenecks, amongst other issues, which the Fed’s hikes will not solve.”
This is all enough “to spook the Fed” into a “major policy mis-step” as it tries to “recover some of its credibility” after the previous lack of decisive action as inflation was beginning to take its stranglehold, says Nigel Green.
Against this worrying backdrop of a looming recession, investors typically move away from riskier assets towards perceived ‘safe haven’ assets, such as cash. But this also needs to be considered carefully in this environment.
“Red-hot inflation means excess cash in your bank accounts will lead to losses in real value. Hardly a safe haven then for those wanting to build long-term wealth.”
He goes on to add: “As the risks of a global recession ramp up, there remains one clear way for investors to maximise returns relative to risk: the practice of portfolio diversification.”
However, last week the deVere boss also warned that the 60/40 investment portfolio is not fit for purpose in today's sky-high inflation environment.
“For about half a century, investors have been able to create, grow and protect their wealth using the 60/40 portfolio model. 60% stocks and 40% bonds were enough to hit both goals of capital appreciation and capital preservation. This is no longer the case.”
He suggested that investors should consider diversifying into less traditional, return-enhancing asset classes.
Nigel Green concludes: “Investors need to shore-up their portfolios to shield their wealth from another Fed policy mistake that could be enough to push the economy into a recession.”
Written by: The Standard 60/40 Investment Portfolio Is Dead