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Global stocks struggled early in 2022 because investors were concerned about faster inflation, which has risen to its highest in four decades in the US, a record high in the eurozone and highest in three decades in the UK. Long-term bond yields are climbing (bond prices are falling) because inflation reduces the value of future bond payments. Short-term bond yields are rising as central banks have increased, or are poised to lift, cash rates and terminate, even reverse, their asset-buying programs that supressed interest rates. In times of accelerating inflation and turbulent share markets, investors might find that holding global listed infrastructure securities is one way to help protect a portfolio against inflation.

Inflation and asset values

Inflation tends to hurt stocks in two ways. One is that inflation reduces the present value of future cash flows, a key determinant of share prices. The other way a sustained increase in inflation undermines stock valuations is that rising input costs and higher borrowing costs reduce profits - unless a business has the pricing power to boost the price of its goods or services to compensate. The lower the expected profits, the less people are willing to pay for shares.

Inflation and infrastructure assets

As inflation accelerates worldwide, many investors are turning to the few companies that are renowned for their inflation protection. Among these are infrastructure companies. The discussion here assumes companies defined as infrastructure meet two criteria. First, the company must own or operate assets that behave like monopolies. Second, the services provided by the company must be essential for a community to function efficiently. Such companies have predictable cash flows that make them attractive defensive assets.

The main sectors within infrastructure are utilities, toll roads, airports, railroads, energy infrastructure, communications (mobile phone and broadcast towers). Each sector exhibits diverse investment characteristics and reacts differently to faster inflation, as explained below. The key thing to note though is most of these businesses are protected from inflation, which should help support their share prices if inflation becomes entrenched.

Utilities

Utilities include water utilities, electricity transmission (high-voltage power lines) and electricity distribution (urban power lines) and gas transmission and distribution. In most countries, utilities are monopolies. Consequently, government regulators control the prices these entities charge and adjust rates to provide utilities with an appropriate return on invested capital. This process requires regulators to take into account the changes to borrowing, construction and operating costs and changes in the value of the assets that utilities own.

While all the regulatory regimes that Magellan considers to be investment-grade feature mechanisms that allow for the recovery of rising utility input and financing costs, the intricacies of different regulatory regimes affect the timeliness of that recovery. Regulatory systems that strike return allowances in real terms, escalate revenues with inflation, and index debt costs to market yields, including those in Australia and the UK, provide the most timely protection against inflation. By contrast, regulatory systems such as those in Spain and the US that strike return and cost allowances in nominal terms protect against inflation with a modest lag.

Toll roads

The typical business model for a toll road is that a government signs a contract that allows a toll-road operator to collect tolls for a set time and increase those tolls on a regular basis in a defined way. At the end of this contract, the road is returned to government ownership in a good state of repair.

In most countries, the toll road is often not the only road route available to motorists. Consequently, the toll road is not a monopoly. The toll road, however, generally exists because alternative routes are much slower. The opening of a toll road inevitably reduces traffic on the free alternative. But over time, the free alternative can become congested more quickly than the toll road. As that occurs, the toll road behaves more like a monopoly and gives toll roads increased pricing power. However, toll price changes are generally pre-defined under a contract. Table 1 shows a cross-section of how toll prices are set in a range of contracts.

Sources: Company releases, Magellan

As can be seen, the pricing mechanism for many of these toll roads picks up any increases in inflation with minimal lag. Moreover, due to their strong pricing power, toll roads can expect that there will be minimal, if any, loss in traffic when tolls increase so revenues will fully recover the inflationary hit.

Additionally, one of the key characteristics of toll roads that insulates them from inflationary impacts is their high profit margins. Table 2 shows the gross profit margins of a selection of international toll roads. The average margin of 75% from the sample is substantially above other industrial companies.

Source: Company releases, Magellan

The other key area where inflation can hurt profits is by increasing the cost of capital expenditure companies need to undertake. With most toll roads, however, the capital expenditure on operating roads is minimal and generally limited to resurfacing and replacing crash barriers, etc.

Airports

When looking at airports and inflation, it's best to consider airports as two businesses. The 'airside' operations primarily involve managing the runways and taxiways of the airport. Airside revenue is generated by a charge levied per passenger or a charge levied on the weight of the plane, or a combination. In most jurisdictions, the onus is on the airport to negotiate appropriate charges with the airlines. This side of the operation therefore behaves much like a regulated utility.

The other business is the 'landside' operation that involves the remainder of the airport. These operations cover three primary areas: retail, car parking and property development. In most airports, the airport owner does not run the retail outlets. Instead, the owner acts as the lessor and receives a guaranteed minimum rental that is normally inflation-linked plus a share of sales. These revenues are therefore protected from a jump in inflation.

The parking operations at the airport generally behave like a monopoly although there is some substitution threat; that is, passengers can use taxis instead of driving. As such, airports have significant ability to increase prices in response to higher inflation. In regard to costs, airport profit margins exhibit much greater variability than toll roads, as evident from Table 3.

Source: Company releases, Magellan

Efficient airports such as those in Auckland and Sydney are more insulated from faster inflation than those (typically European) airports that are struggling to reduce the workforces that were in place when they were privatised. (Even these less-efficient airports still exhibit higher margins than the average industrial company.)

Finally, airports also have the highest capital expenditure requirements of any of the transport infrastructure subsectors. Airside capital expenditure includes widening and extending runways and taxiways. It is generally only undertaken after consultation and agreement with the airlines and regulatory authorities. Over time, airside charges will rise to recover these costs.

Landside capital expenditure relates to increasing the retail, parking and general property leasing facilities. Higher inflation may change the financial viability of such capital expenditure. But airports, having an unregulated monopoly in these areas, can increase prices to compensate for inflation. Consequently, inflation is unlikely to hurt the value of an airport asset.

Railroads (Class 1 freight rail)

The railroads that meet Magellan's definition of infrastructure are primarily North American Class 1 railroads. These railroads typically have no regulator-approved capability to pass through inflation. Instead, their respective national regulators provide for lighter economic regulation using a broad 'revenue adequacy' standard. Thus, regulations have allowed railroad operators to charge rates that support prudent capital outlays, assure the repayment of a reasonable level of debt, permit the raising of needed equity capital, and cover the effects of inflation whilst attempting to maintain sufficient levels of market-based competition. 

Arguably, this framework has provided railroads with greater discretion around the rates they charge customers and thus, the ability to more than account for inflation. Chart 1 shows how North American railroads have increased rates at levels well ahead of inflation over the past 20 years. 

Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics; Federal Reserve and AAR

This isn't to suggest that regulation provides the key source of inflation protection for North American railroads. Rather, we think the rails generate most of their inflation protection from pricing power (which is derived from the lack of alternatives and the regional duopolistic regional markets) and operating efficiencies.

Energy infrastructure

The energy-infrastructure companies that meet our definition of infrastructure have dominant market positions and real pricing power, which is reflected in long-term, typically inflation-linked, take-or-pay contracts or regulated returns. 

Given the long-term nature of energy infrastructure contracts, pipeline and storage operators typically use pre-agreed price increases to protect real revenues and hedge against rising costs. Given the strategic and monopolistic nature of some assets such as transmission pipelines, some of these pipelines are regulated. Australia, for instance, has a mix of regulated and unregulated gas pipelines. In Canada, tariffs are negotiated within a regulatory framework. In the US, the regulator sets pipeline rates to allow the operator to earn a fair return on their invested capital. All methods protect these companies from inflation.

Tank-storage providers that meet our definition of infrastructure need to have terminals in favourable locations and typically sell capacity, predominantly under long-term contracts, with no exposure to movements in commodity prices.  Long-term storage contracts are usually indexed in a similar way to pipeline contracts. Netherlands-based storage provider Royal Vopak has long-term contracts (longer than one year) linked to the CPI of the country where the storage takes place (with annual indexation), while the bulk of costs are in the local currency of those countries, which provides a strong hedge against inflation

Communications infrastructure 

Communications infrastructure, as defined by Magellan, is comprised of independently owned communication sites designed to host wireless communication equipment, primarily towers. Although these sites are mainly used by wireless carriers, they may host equipment for television, radio and public-safety networks.

Despite the complexities of the technology that underpins wireless communication networks, the business model for these tower companies is simple. These companies generate most of their revenue through leasing tower space to wireless carriers such as mobile-service providers that need a place to install equipment. In return for providing this space, the tower company receives a lease or services agreement that provides a long-term and reliable income stream. The terms of these contracts are usually favourable for tower companies because data demand is strong and competition is low. Thus, leases are long term and revenue increases are priced into the contract.

Source: Magellan

Even so, we consider some, primarily US-based, communication towers to be relatively more sensitive to changes in inflation than other infrastructure sectors. This is due to communication towers in the US typically having limited inflation protection on the revenue side in the near term. In sum, we consider their protection to be partial.

The second order effect of higher interest rates

The traditional policy approach from central banks in response to higher inflation is to raise nominal interest rates, which has potentially two effects on our investment universe: The impact of changes in interest rates on the underlying financial performance of the businesses in which we invest; and the impact on the valuation of those businesses. 

As discussed above, regulated utilities can recover the cost tied to a rise in inflation through the periodic regulatory process. This generally includes the costs of servicing higher interest rates on their debt, thus exposure to interest rates will be limited to the length of time between reset periods, albeit in practice those utilities that are exposed to this kind of risk tend to hedge it by issuing fixed rate debt with a term that aligns with the regulatory period.

Overall, the past decade has witnessed a significant lengthening in the duration of the debt portfolio for the majority of infrastructure and utilities businesses. Many of these companies are well protected from higher rates because they have taken advantage of the low interest rates of recent years to lock in cheap, fixed rate debt for long periods. Ultimately, we are confident that any shifts in interest rates will not hamper the financial performance of the companies in the portfolio for the foreseeable future.

In terms of valuation, an increase in interest rates can be expected to lead to a higher cost of debt, and an increase in the rate at which investors value future earnings (the higher this 'discount rate', the less investors are willing to pay for future income streams). While our forecasts and valuations take these factors into account, the history of financial markets leads us to expect increasing uncertainty if rates rise or look like rising. Companies that are regarded as 'defensive' are often shunned when interest rates rise as investors prefer higher-growth sectors. However, it is our experience that provided businesses have solid fundamentals, their stock prices over the longer term will reflect their underlying earnings.

In recent history, there have been three occasions where we have seen a spike in US 10-year yields of about 0.9%. At face value, these three increases in prevailing interest rates appear to have led to declines in the market value of listed infrastructure. However, if we look over the combined period then a different picture emerges.  The following chart shows the performance of the Magellan Infrastructure Fund from June 2012 to December 2019. 

The chart shows that the hit from higher interest rates was short term. Once the interest-rate rises were digested and it was established that the outlooks for infrastructure businesses were largely unaffected then the share prices recovered. 

Conclusion

Infrastructure remains well placed in an environment of increasing inflation due to its inflation-linked revenues, low operating costs and consequent high margins, with the second order impact of higher interest rates being muted by the lengthening of company debt portfolios over the past decade. These characteristics offer investors a haven when inflation is at decade highs around the world.

Why on earth would Experiences thrive with the gloom around today?

Put simply-Pent-up demand. Pre-Covid expenditure on experiences had been consistently growing ahead of GDP and its sub-segment, travel, was one of the fastest growing. Most megatrends within Insync's portfolio tend to have low sensitivity to economic cycles but the one sub-segment that suffered temporarily was travel.

The extent of the fall in travel was unprecedented. Worldwide a staggering 1 billion fewer international arrivals in 2020 than in 2019. This compares with the 4% decline recorded during the 2009 global economic crisis (GFC).

The Vacationer, an online publication found that 25% of respondents say they

intend to 'revenge travel', likely spending more money than ever before after

being stripped of the opportunity to vacation over the last two years.

There has been a lack of visibility on how leisure travel was going to emerge after governments implemented onerous travel restrictions. This was compounded by the shift to working from home with online meetings reducing the need for face-to-face meetings. What we do know is that humans desire to travel is hardwired into all of our DNAs. As travel restrictions have started to ease consumers appear to be making up for lost time.

Airlines in the US last month reported domestic flight bookings surpassing pre-pandemic levels! US travellers spent $6.6 billion on flights in February, 6% higher than February 2019. Airlines for America, a leading US industry advocacy group noted that travellers have been eager to book tickets as COVID restrictions lifted.

This provides a good indicator for the rest of the world. Our families and friends are all planning new adventures and reunions too. Interestingly, rising jet fuel prices, which have put upward pressure on ticket prices, has so far not deterred travellers who are willing to spend more. Emirates recently added a fuel surcharge and saw booking rise!

A number of surveys are painting similar stories. TripAdvisor, found that 45% of Americans are planning to travel this March and April, including 68% of Gen Z travellers. This number will climb higher as the summer season rapidly approaches, as 68% of all American adults will vacation this summer (The Vacationer). No wonder hotels around the United States are nearing or have already surpassed pre-pandemic occupancy. Just try finding a decent, moderately priced hotel room in Sydney, as two of our team have recently experienced.

The megatrend of Experiences is accelerating. Finding the right businesses benefitting from the trend is equally important for the consistent earnings growth we seek. It's why Cruise lines, airlines and hotels, whilst obvious picks, don't meet the quality criteria we insist upon.

Recently we reinvested into Booking Holdings after the over-blown pull back in its share price and the Covid event subsiding. It generates prodigious amounts of cash because of their scale and superior margins versus its competitors. As well as delivering a commanding competitive position they also help it in protecting against inflation. Bookings recently overtook Marriott, the largest hotel group, in gross volume booked in 2012, and today stands 70% bigger.

Companies with superior business models and balance sheets tend to come through a crisis strengthening their competitive position. Booking Holdings is a prime example. The structural reduction in business travel has made hotels reliant upon OTAs once again to fill-up their rooms. This has been evidenced by recent data showing strong market share gains, in excess of pre-COVID levels. Second is the shutdown of Google's "Book on Google" product, removing the biggest perennial risk to the OTA investment case. The fact that the most powerful online search engine is shutting down this service is testament to the powerful position that Booking Holdings occupy.

Long term, travel looks set to continue to grow ahead of GDP as populations age, emerging market middle classes expand, and discretionary spend shifts more from "things" to "experiences.". Booking Holdings will be a major beneficiary compounding earnings for many years with its share price likely to follow the consistent growth in earnings.

 

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World stock markets are facing much consternation over key issues including high inflation and the path of interest rates, the Ukraine war, and the Covid pandemic in China, all acting to disrupt supply and global trade.

Against this background, traditional stock market value measures such as price-earnings ratios are still near the high end of historical valuations in many countries, earnings margins are beginning to come under pressure and consumer confidence is decreasing as costs increase.  This does not bode well.

Australian inflation is 5.1% per annum, and US inflation was last measured at a rather impressive 8.5%. The US experienced negative real economic growth in the last quarter, suggesting a stagflationary economic environment.  It was only last year that you would be laughed at for suggesting stagflation (we did so we know), and the RBA governor was telling the market how foolish they were for even suggesting a rate increase as a possibility in 2022. How times change!

Supply disruptions combined with ridiculously easy fiscal and monetary policy are the reasons for the significant recent lift in inflation globally. Central banks currently have interest rates set near record lows. They believe they have to lift interest rates to try to stop inflation from becoming overly entrenched, despite the supply-side issue. Interest rates tend to move in waves; they historically do not go up and down consecutively, instead tending towards trending. Thus, changes in direction are important and closely followed by markets.  This time could be the same, but not necessarily so.

For most markets and their participants, the extent central banks will move rates is currently the most relevant and important factor for investment decision making.  The bond market is pricing aggressive rate increases, which to many market participants - us included - appear unrealistic.

US Government Debt to GDP averaged 64.54% from 1940 until 2021, reaching an all-time high of 137.20% of GDP in 2022. US household debt to income is above 77%, while Australian debt to household income is just under 200%; historically, approximately 65% is normal. Many other countries have high debt levels, following further government spending to support economies during Covid or at the consumer end due to higher house prices or credit expansion during a period of record-low interest rates.

How will central banks and markets react to this economic background?
Firstly, economies should prove very sensitive to lifts in interest rates due to high debt levels. We don't think it will take that many before something meaningful breaks either in markets or the economy or both simultaneously.  A recession is a real probability, imminently in Europe but also in other economies in 2022 or failing that in 2023.

Secondly, it will be very tempting for central banks to try and ultimately "under-respond" to high inflation as they need to act to inflate the debt away and will become scared again about deflation and a financial crisis should they overdo rate increases and see markets and economies collapse.  This could occur much earlier than most believe.

The unfortunate reality is central banks don't control everything that goes on in an economy, albeit are loathe to admit it.  Monetary policy only has a limited effect on supply-side inflation and ultimately to be effective at addressing this must kill demand i.e., induce a recession.  A recession is hence a realistic expectation if central banks are to be taken seriously.

Ultimately, it will be very important how far central banks go. A policy mistake lies beyond every decision they make from here.

The Reserve Bank of Australia recently lifted interest rates slightly, announcing that the cash rate would increase by 0.25% to 0.35%. Incredibly, this was the first interest rate rise in over 10 years. This appears to be a small opening shot against inflation but it is not until rates are closer to "neutral" that we will know how far they are prepared to push it, and neutral cash rates may be lower than ever before.

We would suggest that central banks will continue to lift interest rates, however, to a more limited extent and less than what is priced in.  This is because we think something meaningful will break long before they manage to meet the expectations of the bond market, or alternatively, they'll aim to tolerate higher inflation and raise rates cautiously over a more extended period while talking a tough game and hoping inflation will have some dips.

Investors, many of which have only had limited experience of inflation and how it can have dramatic effects on the purchasing power of cash over a number of years, will need to pay close attention to central bank actions.  Macroeconomics matters now like never before.

Market falls could be dramatic because the risks are high and because of the influence of passive investors who don't know what they own, only that they expect it to go up.  Passive investors might wake up one day and decide they're over-allocated to risky assets due to their backwards-looking models that simply don't match the times, providing constant selling pressure.

A geopolitical and technological disruptive period
Importantly, it is not only interest rates and inflation that investors need to consider.   

Geopolitical risk should be front of mind as the era of (relatively) peaceful prosperity appears over.  Power games are occurring on a grand scale and the stakes are big.  One wrong step and it is literally kaboom.  When people with a history of following through on their threats start threatening the use of nukes, nuclear strikes must be considered a realistic possibility (like it or not).

Investors also need to be aware that we are headed into one of the most technologically disruptive periods in history. The integration of technology into many businesses will see certain companies thrive and many others prove uncompetitive.  For example, artificial intelligence, robotics, and the move to the electrification of transportation will have positive benefits for technologically innovative companies over time, while having negative effects on companies unable to implement or use these new technologies productively.

Will the commodity and mining boom continue?
If inflation is permitted to continue to run and demand isn't destroyed in a recession, commodities and thus mining companies should continue to benefit (albeit not in a straight line).  We see electrification, automation and robotics as likely to increase mining company margins, while mine production may continue to lag product demand due to green groups and government slowing mine starts in many countries. Lithium and copper are likely to continue to see market support while nickel could be negatively impacted by a move toward lithium, iron, and phosphate batteries in the electric vehicle space.

The move towards reduced carbon is an ongoing important secular thematic and we are hence allocating towards an active strategy investing in carbon futures to benefit from needed and likely carbon price increases over time.

While technology stocks and disruptors are understandably lagging today as rate increases decrease the value of long duration stocks and some of these stocks are absolutely detested, should the central banks not follow through with the priced rate increases and/or reverse their policy, these stocks may see some respite from their entrenched bear markets later in 2022.  Real productivity growth is an important secular need that some technology stocks will provide and benefit from overtime, while many others will fail to reach profitability and hence continue to disappoint or disappear. 

Precious metals will also benefit if positive real rates fail to be sustained, which we think is likely in most Western economies in the absence of good policy choices, due to large debts, worsening demographics and mediocre leadership.

Asset allocation and stock selection will hence become a bigger driver of investment returns in this new unstable and dangerous period in world economies and markets. The days of the index approach are hence numbered as broad real returns will likely continue to prove disappointing, and certainly so to anyone with reasonable or high expectations. 

Being overly concentrated or convicted may also be highly dangerous in such an uncertain and risky world (many funds are already down 40 or 50% from highs using such an approach!).  A humbler and more diversified yet still highly active and selective approach is, in our view, more able to manage the risk and uncertainty, smooth the return path and keep losses to more tolerable levels.

The primary dangers for investment markets are (1) an overly aggressive interest rate stance by central banks, which we would see as an explicit policy error, or (2) an escalation of the war or a new war.  Covid policy in China is an x-factor but one would think likely to resolve over time.

If there is one thing we would leave you with, expect to be surprised. We're in a new dangerous investment era where surprises will prove commonplace, and arrogance and an inability to be flexible may prove deadly.  Being humble, cautious and backing good research and prudent risk management might not (yet) be very popular but it will be soon enough. It provides a greater chance of being effective and avoiding the disastrous downdrafts which we expect will afflict many investors in 2022.

The question everyone is asking,

Is this a mid-cycle slowdown or have we moved into a new bear market for shares? 

We are firmly in the latter camp.​

The balance sheet recession that followed the financial crisis was a powerful deflationary force. Households and businesses de-levered while governments exercised fiscal restraint allowing Central banks to reflate without creating inflation. Low growth with deflation was a 'goldilocks' era for risk assets, not too hot and not too cold.

In Fig 1 below, you can see four very clear and discrete mini business cycles of four years each starting in March of 2009, as Central Banks' eased and then tightened policy. Together they make up the 14-year secular bull market in shares.

The cycle has turned, the bear is here

In each reflation episode, real interest rates moved lower and lower and 'financial assets' such as shares and bonds, moved higher and higher. At the same time as real interest rates turned negative, capital was re-allocated away from short-duration 'hard' assets such as commodities.

The share market has followed each of these business cycles peaking on each occasion at the blue advance line in Fig 1 as it has once again in December of last year. As policy support is once again withdrawn we have moved into the next 'cyclical' bear.

Market bulls will have you believe policymakers can engineer yet another soft landing, pivot, and reflate one more time. It's highly unlikely this time however as we no longer have these deflationary tailwinds, instead, we have inflation at the highest level in 40 years in many western economies.

 

In the last tightening cycle in 2018 (Fig 2), the US Federal Reserve started raising interest rates much earlier while the economy was still expanding rapidly (PMI was rising). They didn't even reach the neutral interest rate however where policy pivots from accommodative to restrictive (the dotted line) before economic activity fell sharply and they were forced to reverse course and ease rates again. Back then, inflation was barely at 2%, and the Fed was still trying to push inflation higher!

US Federal Reserve Target Interest Rate

This time will be very different, they are late and are tightening as growth slows. Furthermore, to bring inflation back under control, theoretically, policy must 'overshoot'. They need to move beyond the neutral rate (dotted line) to slow demand enough to stimy inflation. Goldman Sachs have suggested this overshoot may require interest rates as high as 4% or above to curb inflation.

Interest Rate markets are clearly well below this level today and with an inverted yield curve, bond investors are already signalling a recession is ahead.

Given central banks are late and tightening into a slowing economy and the need for a policy overshoot to curb inflation, the prospect of a recession in advanced economies next year is high. A soft landing and another round of asset reflation is equally unlikely.

Not just any bear. A new secular bear.

This will not just be a 'cyclical' bear market like the four prior episodes but the beginning of a new secular bear where shares move sideways for many years to come. As with secular bulls (the last one lasted 14 years), secular bears typically last 10-15 years​

 

A secular bear market

Strategists often refer to the 1970's secular bear as a precedent for what lies ahead. You can see in Fig 3 above this was not a unique period. Inflation eventually kills most secular bull markets and that should be our base case this time also. It is dangerous to expect this time will be different. ​

Within this secular bear we will still have the four-year business cycle playing out as shares rise and fall, but within a broadly sideways trend.​

A new secular bear for bonds also

With the return of inflation, it looks like the 31-year secular bull in bonds is also now complete. It is clear from the momentum signal in the bottom panel below the low for bond yields (the high for bond prices) is in.

Most risk assets are priced off the long bond - the very low yield on these securities has led to a re-rate of other long-duration risk assets like shares. The P/E re-rate of shares and for growth shares in particular is an extension of the depths bond yields have fallen too.

As commodities are an inflation hedge, secular trends in commodities have historically been negatively correlated with financial assets. You can see this indicated in red below. A new secular bull market in commodities has probably begun.

Secular bear in bonds/a secular bull in commodities

 

US Treasury Yield % (10 year)

Further confirmation of a reversal in bond prices is near to hand. In Fig 5 below you can see bond yields across multiple durations are pushing up against the 30-year downtrend as we speak. If yields break through here, we will be at a seminal moment for risk assets. The 30-year tailwind for share market valuations will have reversed.

How it plays out for shares this year

 

Following the strong bear market rally in March, shares are likely to track sideways in the months ahead but will fall short of prior highs. It is still too early for a major draw, shares still offer decent profit growth this year and analysts are still upgrading profit estimates. Furthermore, with money pouring out of the bond market, investors have few alternatives other than to invest in shares.

The next major drawdown in the share market is likely to occur later in the year as economies slow and the street starts cutting profit estimates. ​As shares start to move lower and investors come to realise there will be no Central Bank bailout this time around, share markets will fall hard led by mega-cap technology - the last and largest bubble still to burst.​

Closer to home, we may well see a replay of the Teck Wreck and the GFC where the lucky country once again misses the recession bullet given our exposure to a resurgent resources sector. Given our markets' heavy weighting to resources, the ASX may still make a new high in the months ahead.

From here, I would advise thinking of the Australian share market as two discrete markets - the All Industrials share market which today is still 7% below the August 2021 high and a resources market which is making new highs as I write this piece. Don't chase it though, the initial advance in commodities is nearly complete. As late cyclicals, resource shares will also fall in the second half of the year as global growth slows. 

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Vrimp, the vegan alternative to shrimp, is made from peas, seaweed and konjac root, a vegetable found in Asia. The vEGGie, a vegan egg, is a mixture of soy protein and omega-3 fatty acids. Wunda is a pea-based alternative milk. Offered too are the Vuna, a vegan tuna alternative, and vegan burgers, while an experiment is underway to make vegan chicken that comes with fake skin and bones. These products add to the plant-based dairy alternatives for chocolate, coffee, creamers, ice cream and malt beverages. Such are newest offerings of the Swiss-based Nestlé, the world's biggest food and drinks maker, as it responds to the latest twist in consumer demand.

The innovation drive extends to the staples that bring in so much of Nestlé's revenue, which reached 87.1 billion Swiss francs in fiscal 2021, a jump of 7.5% on an organic basis from 2020 and the fastest pace in 13 years.

Coffee (26% of fiscal 2021 sales) has benefited from the launch of Starbucks at Home, a tie-up with Starbucks and Nespresso, and a revamped approach to producing Nescafe instant coffee. Bean selection is now approached in much the same way as wine makers grade grapes and there's an organic option. Of note is that in 2021 Nestlé scientists discovered two novel plant varietals of the coffee tree that produces Robusta beans. The result is a jump in yields by up to 50%, lower carbon emissions and people can now enjoy a super-premium barista blend in their soluble coffee. And every second of every day, the world enjoys another 5,500 cups of Nescafé, including the premium Nescafé Gold.

The pet care staple (18% of sales) has become personalised (animalised?) and much science has gone into producing healthy high-end labels. In many parts of the world at production volumes that achieve economies of scale, Fido can receive a unique blend of dog food and supplements delivered to the home with his name stamped on the front. For house pets so inclined, there's a pet food line where insects and plant protein from fava beans and millet are mixed with meat. Pet carers are considered too. Improved online ordering means people don't have to lug home heavy packets.

The KitKat staple, which was revitalised by a marketing campaign in Japan in 2014 that exploited how the Japanese pronunciation of KitKat (kitto katto) resembles the phrase 'you will win' (kitto katsu), now has stand-alone stores. These 'KitKat bars' offer almost countless flavours including a vegan option (KitKat V) and let people devise their own recipes - 'create your break'.

Such is the revamp of a company with a history stretching to 1866 since Mark Schneider became CEO in 2017. Key drivers of success under Schneider include a switch into healthier products such as plant-based foods and vitamins and supplements, and a focus on novel products and faster times to market with the latest offerings. Schneider has reinvigorated the company's portfolio of assets by conducting at least 85 divestments and acquisitions over the past five years.

Nestlé shares are trading around the record high set in November last year because investors recognise that an overhauled company with great brands is enjoying a virtuous cycle kicked off by digitalisation. The enhanced consumer insights improve innovation, which leads to the creation and successful launch of better products produced at economies of scale that bestow an unassailable competitive advantage on the company.

What brands the company has. Nestlé has 31 'mega-brands' including Coffee mate, Haagen-Dazs ice cream, Maggi noodles, Milo, Nescafé, Nesquik, Nespresso, Purina pet care and San Pellegrino mineral water. Each has loyal consumers, which means these products command a premium price and superior access to supermarket shelves. Each generates global sales of more than one billion Swiss francs every year.

Nestlé, in all, boasts 2,000-plus brands that are sold in 186 countries and many hold the No. 1 or No. 2 positions in their categories. The brands are split across seven segments. These are in order of fiscal 2021 sales: powdered & liquid beverages (28%), pet care (18%), nutrition & healthcare (15%), prepared dishes & cooking aids (14%), milk products & ice cream (12%), confectionery (9%) and water (5%).

Nestlé's great brands mean the company has steady cash flow and earnings streams no matter the state of the economy. As such, the stock has a 'defensive' appeal, which is why it's held up better than most during the share slide so far in 2022. Since Nestlé is well positioned to achieve its sales growth target of 4% to 6% in coming years, the stock is likely to generate superior returns for investors for a long while yet.

To be sure, Nestlé products face ferocious competition. Some products (chocolate) are struggling to boost sales. But the success of coffee and pet foods make up for these laggards. The health push exposes the food processor to charges of hypocrisy because many of its goods are unhealthy and cannot easily be made wholesome. But the company is out to reduce that percentage and sales show junk food is popular enough. For all its global reach, Nestlé is overexposed to a downturn in the US, where it sources about 33% of its sales and profits. The company has warned that higher costs for its agricultural ingredients, packaging, energy and shipping threaten margins. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has intensified that challenge, especially that wheat and energy prices are rising. But as a third of sales come from premium products, Nestlé is better placed than most of its peers.

A business that has changed so much since two Americans established the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company 156 years ago (that eventually merged with a company Henri Nestlé founded to sell milk-based baby food one year later) is used to overcoming challenges. If Nestlé can make such a successful start to going vegan and vegetarian (sales of 800 billion Swiss francs in fiscal 2021), what can't it do?

Sources: Company filings and website, Bloomberg News and Dunn & Bradstreet.

Against a backdrop of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, rising inflation and rate hikes, Australian investors are searching for investments that can benefit from these evolving market conditions.

With credit spreads at attractive levels, now might be the opportune time to have exposure to hybrids and credit.

With minimal returns on cash continuing to underpin strong demand for hybrid securities, we anticipate demand for yield to remain robust throughout 2022, resulting in strong returns over the year for this asset class.

The upside of rising interest rates

Rising inflation, above average GDP growth and the unwinding of quantitative easing (QE) in 2022 has seen financial markets reprice interest rate expectations.

The rising rate environment will push the outright return on hybrid securities higher, without having a material impact on spreads given the strong economic backdrop. Given most hybrids are floating rate, investors will benefit via higher income from these rising short-term rates.

Strong balance sheets you can bank on

Australian banks are the largest issuers of hybrids domestically and their balance sheets are in fantastic shape, with capital ratios at historical high levels. COVID-19 provided Australian banks with access to cheap funding via the Term Funding Facility (TFF), which provided them with a degree of funding certainty and lower funding costs.

Following the withdrawal of the TFF in 2021, new bank issuance is coming to market at attractive credit margins, providing the ideal environment for active credit managers to identify the most positive risk adjusted opportunities.

For instance, bank senior credit margins are significantly off their TFF lows, which is leading to an attractive re-pricing across all bank capital issuance (refer to Chart 1). Overvalued growth sectors are likely to lead an equity market sell off similar to 2000 - 02, but are unlikely to impact credit market returns.

Chart 1: Bank senior credit margins - Well-Off their TFF 2021 lows

The higher the carry (running yield of an investment), the greater the protection it offers investors from adverse movements in credit margins. The carry for the Yarra Enhanced Income Fund is currently sitting at ~3.0% above cash.

Based on an average portfolio maturity of ~3 years, we'd need to see an extreme 1.0% move wider in credit margins to wipe-out the carry. However, given the robust economic backdrop in 2022, we expect credit margins to remain relatively stable throughout, adding to floating rate credit's income generating credentials.

This benign outlook is in contrast to the capital losses currently being observed in traditional fixed income due to the reset in interest rates and real yields. Usually, a rise in real yields will impact the value of everything long interest rate duration, from traditional fixed income to most equities. That's not the case with floating rate credit, since its short duration offers protection to portfolio valuations from rising interest rates. This is observable in EIF's outperformance compared to traditional fixed income (Bloomberg Composite Index) since February 2020 (see Chart 2).

Chart 2: Floating rate credit with carry continues to outperform fixed rate with little carry

Making the grade

In a world that seems to be getting riskier by the minute, investment grade hybrids look to be a safe haven for investors. Here's why:

• Investment grade hybrids appear to be fairly priced in an environment appearing increasingly more expensive, especially if real yields rise or normalise in a post QE world.
• Investment grade issuers remain well capitalised, making them more likely to be able to service their interest payments and repay debt.

• Most Australian investment grade hybrids are floating rate securities, which tend to pay higher yields if prevailing rates go up because they are based on a variable interest rate, rather than fixed. Not only does this mean more income when rates rise, but there is also no loss of capital.

Getting exposure to hybrids and credit

Being able to access fixed rate securities for floating rate portfolios remains a key competitive advantage for Yarra's clients. The Yarra Enhanced Income Fund invests in high yielding, floating rate credit and hybrid securities to deliver better returns than traditional cash management and fixed income investments.