The start of 2023 was marked with a comeback of risk appetite in equity markets. Expectations of a Federal Reserve (Fed) pivot by the end of H1, and somewhat improving odds of a soft landing amidst resilience of the job market, have sparked positive sentiment for risk assets. In this environment, many thematic strategies confidently outperformed the global equity benchmark, MSCI ACWI. However, continued resilience of the job market in the United States, and a higher-than-expected inflation print in January, was followed by a series of commentaries from Fed officials indicating more interest hikes are needed to combat ... (full story)