3+1 weekly market insights
The 3+1 Active Investors Series is BlackRock’s weekly investor video franchise, created to start your week with insights from the voices shaping markets. Featuring the firm’s leading active investors, each episode highlights three perspectives on what’s driving markets today.
BlackRock | 3+1 Series
FC2 062226
Episode 109B: James Turner
Mmm. The seagull has babies outside. It has babies.
Good morning. I'm James Turner, head of global fixed income for EMEA at BlackRock. It's the
week of June the 29th. Here are three things you need to know. And one, you don't.
First up.
We haven't seen rates like this for decades in Europe. For a long time, you had to take almost
excessive risks to find the right type of yield. Now we're in a position where we have higher
rates that exceed inflation, and that's generating real income for investors. If you look at bonds
in the 3 to 5 year range, that's where we see most value. We don't have the volatility you get
from taking duration because of the European fiscal deficit in many of the countries.
Number two.
The dispersion in that credit market leads to opportunities, because not all sectors and
companies are performing equally. For example, the banking sector has some very positive
dynamics at the moment. So certainly a sector that we like to invest in. But it doesn't mean all
companies within that sector are going to be companies that we're happy with. It's a matter of
being very careful with our credit selection and picking those best in class companies within the
sectors. And it's that kind of deep research that leads to being able to generate alpha in our
portfolios.
Which brings us to...
The AI expansion we've certainly seen some issuance into the European credit markets in
European currencies to fund some of this CapEx. The other element of the AI expansion is the
fixed income market. It’s the effect that this use of technology will have on companies that
aren't necessarily technology companies, but they’re users of AI to make their businesses
more productive and more efficient.
And the one thing you don't need to know…
I've always been a huge rugby enthusiast ever since I started playing at school. This is the
shirt that I still have from it in 1992. [Hot Take:] Rugby is the ultimate team sport. To win and
lose as a team, you need to do TCUP, a very British phrase, that stands for thinking clearly
under pressure. And that's not dissimilar to investment management, where you're having to
make those right decisions continually under pressure.
To get more 3+1 and stay up on everything you need to know, and some things you don't,
make sure to follow us on LinkedIn and YouTube. We'll see you next week.
3+1 Episode 9: James Turner
In this episode of 3+1, James Turner, Head of Global Fixed Income for EMEA, shares what he's watching across European fixed income markets. He discusses the return of real income opportunities, why dispersion in credit markets is creating opportunities for active investors and how AI could drive productivity gains across industries.
