Data Driven Investor: Six Key Learnings From the BlackRock 2023 Midyear Outlook

Investors looking to beat the market have a variety of options. One of the best ways is to find an institution with a history of beating the market and then replicate their moves.

One of the top asset managers in history, BlackRock (BLK), has consistently outperformed the S&P 500 for more than 25 years. While the S&P 500 index given 4x returns so far this century, investors in BlackRock made 58x.

And, each year, the company updates investors on where they see the market heading. That includes big trend changes that could impact asset valuations.

For instance, BlackRock sees the market in terms of narratives. That’s simply a way of saying that investors have a “story” for why the market is performing the way it is. Those narratives can change quickly.

The current narrative is based on rising interest rates. But there are other narrative lines at play.

One current narrative is geopolitical. That includes deteriorating relations between the U.S. and China, as well as the war in Ukraine. This trend could mean more diversified supply chains, and less international trade.

If that narrative carries out, asset returns will be lower in the future. That would simply be a consequence of a more inefficient way of structuring the world.

To read the full set of BlackRock’s market predictions and what they mean for investors, click here.