EMO - ClearBridge Global Infrastructure Value Strategy Q1 2024 Commentary
2024-04-27 13:15:00 ET
Summary
- ClearBridge is a leading global asset manager committed to active management. Research-based stock selection guides our investment approach, with our strategies reflecting the highest-conviction ideas of our portfolio managers.
- Infrastructure assets trailed global equities in the first quarter amid a robust rally for equities, although March saw a reversal as cyclical strength and a slight sentiment shift for utilities helped infrastructure outperform.
- European utilities are heading into what we believe will be an elevated capex cycle over the next decade to support the energy transition and upgrade aging infrastructure.
- We have been increasing exposure to U.S. rails, which over the past two years have been in a freight recession as retailers were left with bloated inventory as consumers balanced their goods/services spending after exiting COVID-19 lockdowns.
By Charles Hamieh, Shane Hurst, Nick Langley, & Simon Ong
Reshoring and Data Centers Support Select Utilities
Market Overview
Infrastructure assets trailed global equities in the first quarter amid a robust rally for equities, in many ways a continuation of the bull market begun in late 2023 as softening inflation and resilient economic growth have spurred risk-on sentiment. Defensive asset classes such as infrastructure outperformed equities in March, however, as cyclical sectors such as energy infrastructure did well and utilities began to get some credit for some of their long-term drivers, such as surging demand for electricity from AI-powering data centers....
ClearBridge Global Infrastructure Value Strategy Q1 2024 Commentary