The bull market is getting long in the tooth and more stock investors are growing cautious.
Nevertheless, people should still stay invested and look to undervalued segments, such as emerging market exchange traded funds.
In a volatile 2016, investors have pulled out about $53 billion from U.S. equity funds while investing $225 billion into fixed income funds, which suggests market participants are growing more cautious of riskier stocks.
However, investors shouldn’t be to conservative, given the ongoing supportive fundamentals.
“I believe we do not have any reason to be highly concerned given the macro environment; interest rates are still low, and I think fiscal policy is okay,” VanEck CEO Jan van Eck said in a research note. “Valuations are very stretched, and that tends to concern some commentators, but because technicals are now supportive, I feel that is not the biggest concern. This indicates staying invested.”
While most markets trading near all-time highs, investors can still find some areas of opportunity, such as the emerging markets. The emerging markets have recently picked up momentum after years of underperforming developed markets, and the global segment remains relatively attractive.
“I believe that there is one area that we have been giving more attention recently and that is emerging markets equities, given that these equities have been inexpensive for several years,” van Eck said. “Finally, the technical support has come in to support these investments. Oddly enough, post-Brexit, there has been a flood of investor money moving into emerging markets equities and bonds. Emerging markets, both equities and fixed income, is an area that we feel most comfortable with when viewed from a longer term allocation perspective.”
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