Tight public spreads drive investors to private credit.
Public market credit spreads have become extremely tight, which does not offer enough return for the risk taken on longer dates. This dynamic is driving long-term investors into private markets where they can pick up better spread and tailor covenants to fund the massive capital needs of AI infrastructure buildouts.
Investors are reweighting out of highly concentrated, AI-driven markets like Taiwan and South Korea and incrementally allocating to China. Valuations between Hong Kong and China are within normal ranges, the AI theme is more nascent with room to grow, and the IPO pipeline remains very strong.
Market broadening favors Russell 2000 value stocks.
The US equity market is seeing a healthy broadening out beyond a concentrated group of tech names, with over 80% of companies beating earnings expectations. This broadening momentum makes risk assets attractive, with the Russell 2000 Value index notably outperforming the Nasdaq and S&P 500 year-to-date.