I started this week in an optimistic mood. The proxy cause: a new report from Boston-based asset manager GMO, which triumphantly proclaimed that markets currently present the “best relative asset allocation opportunity we’ve seen in 35 years”.
The missive added: “despite strong gains in equity markets last year and year-to-date as well as indexes sitting at all-time highs, we are extremely excited about the investing landscape”.
For those unfamiliar with GMO, such an ebullient view might seem typical of a mid-tier fund shop with $60bn of client money under management. But “excited” isn’t a word one typically associates with GMO, and especially not its principal-founder, Jeremy Grantham, who has built a successful career repeatedly playing Cassandra to the excesses of capital markets.