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Our briefing for Monday July 19, 2021:
Jul 19, 2021 3:51:22 PM
- In the United States, with coronavirus cases on the rise, the surgeon general raised concerns about the millions of people who are still unvaccinated. Dr. Vivek Murthy said in a CNN interview that he’s worried about the future, as the majority of coronavirus-related deaths are among unvaccinated people. He also mentioned social media networks, saying that they’re causing harm by spreading misinformation about vaccines. “We know that health misinformation harms people’s health. It costs them their lives,” Murthy said. President Joe Biden commented on Friday that social media networks were “killing people” by spreading misinformation. Facebook fired back on Saturday, saying it’s not their fault that Biden failed to meet his vaccination goals.
- In Canada, the federal government is set to receive 7.1 million vaccine doses this week, as Canada adjusts its distribution strategy around increased supply and slowing demand. The new deliveries will include about 3.1 million doses of Pfizer and 4 million doses of Moderna. Canada’s vaccination rate remains among the highest in the world; as of Friday, almost 70% of Canadians had received at least one dose, and nearly 49% were fully vaccinated. Canada has also said it will donate 17.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to the COVAX global vaccine-sharing alliance.
- As the United Kingdom lifts their Covid-19 restrictions, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is urging caution. “Please, please, please be cautious. Go forward tomorrow into the next step with all the right prudence and respect for other people and the risks that the disease continues to present,” Johnson said in a statement on Sunday night. The removal of restrictions means nightclubs will be able to open for the first time since the UK first went into lockdown in March last year. Social distancing rule are gone, and face masks will no longer be required by law although they will be recommended in some public spaces.
- In France, two vaccination centres have been ransacked as protests against coronavirus rules continue across the country. Fire hoses were used to flood one site in the southeast of France while another in the southwest was partially destroyed by an arson attack, officials said. More than 100,000 people came out on Saturday to protest the government’s new rules which include mandatory vaccines for healthcare workers and vaccine health passes to access public spaces. The government is trying to curb the spread of the delta variant, which authorities fear could put pressure on hospitals if not enough people are vaccinated.
- In South Korea, military aircraft were dispatched on Sunday to replace the crew of a naval destroyer, after nearly 70 of the 301 crew members tested positive for the coronavirus. Officials said aerial tankers will bring the new crew and then take home the 301 sailors who were taking part in an anti-piracy operation off the coast of East Africa. Officials say the offloaded crew will be taken to hospitals or quarantine facilities once they arrive back in South Korea. The outbreak comes as South Korea struggles with a rise in coronavirus case numbers that has placed the capital region under a strict lockdown.
- Australia’s two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, are still under lockdown as Australia tries to curb the spread of the delta variant. Melbourne extended their lockdown on Monday, but state Premier Daniel Andrews hasn’t said how long it will last. Sydney has been under lockdown since June 26th, with a planned end date of July 30th. On Saturday, New South Wales introduced new restrictions and ordered all non-essential stores to close. New South Wales recorded 111 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours, up from 97 the day before.
Covid-19 – Due Diligence And Asset Management
European Airlines Fall as COVID Variants Threaten Travel Revival
Brief : European airline and travel stocks tumbled Monday after Britain reimposed quarantine rules for people returning from France, stoking concern that the spread of coronavirus variants could halt a tourism rebound. U.K. discount carrier EasyJet Plc dropped as much as 6.5 per cent, British Airways owner IAG SA slumped 5.9 per cent, Ryanair Holdings Plc, which has its biggest hub at London Stansted airport, fell 4 per cent and package-holiday giant TUI AG slipped 4.3 per cent. Air France-KLM was down as much as 4.6 per cent. The declines were triggered by the British government’s decision late Friday to continue requiring fully vaccinated arrivals from France to isolate amid concern about the beta COVID variant, creating a new category between moderate and high-risk in its “traffic-light” system. As of Monday, inoculated U.K. residents returning from amber nations are no longer required to quarantine.
BOE’s Haskel Says It Would Be a Mistake to Tighten Policy Now
Brief: Bank of England policy maker Jonathan Haskel signaled he remains opposed to paring back stimulus for the economy now, saying the U.K. faces headwinds from a tighter fiscal stance and from a surge in the delta variant of the coronavirus. The remarks indicate divisions on the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee likely to play out next month as the eight-member panel debates how to respond to an unexpected jump in inflation above its 2% target. Two members of the MPC last week said the BOE should consider reining in its bond-buying program. Haskel, who for months has been on the dovish end of the debate, acknowledged that the pace of investment in the economy and productivity gains due to home working may reducing scarring from the pandemic. However, he said that the U.K. is still at risk from a rapid spread of the delta variant of Covid-19 and that much of the growth the U.K. has enjoyed was spurred by government support measures are now in retreat.
COVID-19 Surge Sparks Bond Rally, Stocks on Worst Run in 18 Months
Brief: Investors moved away from risky assets on Monday as a rise in worldwide coronavirus cases crushed bond yields and left stocks facing losing streaks, with Wall Street falling more than 1%. New COVID-19 cases rose in England and Asia, with U.S. infections soaring 70% last week, dampening optimism on the economic recovery. The 10-year yield fell 8.7 basis points to 1.212%, a low last seen in February, while the S&P 500 fell for a third straight session. “Investors shed risk assets in early morning trading amid fears of a surge in COVID infections that have the potential to curtail global growth," said Peter Essele, head of investment management for Commonwealth Financial Network, in an e-mailed statement. "The risk aversion was most pronounced in the 10-year Treasury yield, which fell to its lowest level since the early days of 2021.
Fund Managers Ride Out Pandemic by Sticking With Old Playbooks
Brief : Covid-19 upended almost everything, including the trajectory of the U.S. economy, which sank into one of the worst recessions in history and then rebounded into the fastest expansion in decades. One thing that barely changed this whole time? Professional stock pickers’ tastes. Active fund managers still favor stable growth stocks over cheap ones and are avoiding economically sensitive shares like banks and energy, just as they did during the market’s tumble in March 2020. Except for a growing aversion to industrial firms, managers’ preferences across sectors are almost identical to what they were almost 16 months ago, data compiled by Bank of America Corp. show. In fact, almost three-quarters of the same beloved stocks remain in their portfolios.
Aegon Asset Management’s Pandemic-Era Makeover
Brief: In 2019, Bas NieuweWeme became the chief executive officer of Aegon Asset Management, a global firm with around $447.3 billion in assets under management. Soon after he joined, NieuweWeme got to work on streamlining the business. Then, the Covid-19 pandemic hit. About a year into his tenure and a month into a restructuring campaign, NieuweWeme’s original plan to globalize the active asset manager was derailed. So, as he told Institutional Investor, the firm adapted. In the past year, Aegon has retired two of its brands, eliminating some overlap between businesses.
