HARTFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Corbin Perception, an investor research and investor relations (IR) advisory firm, released today its quarterly research report Inside The Buy-side®, which captures changes in trends in institutional investor sentiment.
Surveyed investors describe their outlook as “bullish” amid views that improving corporate earnings and key U.S. economic indicators will be sufficient to offset government policy concerns. Donald Porter, a portfolio manager at Dalton Greiner indicates, “[The U.S.] housing market is definitely strong and is recovering. That is big and that helps many other sectors. The energy renaissance in the U.S. is also a positive.” Furthermore, buy side contributors indicate that while management teams continue to temper expectations, their tone is “less negative”, a marked contrast from the previous quarter. “The change in executive tone is an encouraging trend”, commented Rebecca Corbin, Founder and President of Corbin Perception, adding, “it is the first time since 1Q12 that there has been an improvement perceived by surveyed investors, who generally place a significant amount of importance on management outlooks.”
That said, 58% of surveyed investors believe the market rally is not sustainable. U.S. government policy remains the top concern for these financial professionals. Doubt has shifted to the broader political agenda and the long-term implications of QE, with a general view being a “concern about money printing because that never ends well”.
Meanwhile, the Cyprus difficulties renewed Eurozone fears, with 42% of investors now considering the European crisis to be in the “early stages” compared to only 6% prior to the mid-March potential bailout announcement. Aside from the obvious currency, banking and financial system troubles, analyst Fred Baccanello from U.K.-based Dominion Funds notes, “You have a massive workforce surplus at the moment whilst the rich, more skilled ones are retiring. It is not a great outlook with regard to wage inflation and consumption in those markets.”
Since 2008, Corbin Perception has tracked investor sentiment on a quarterly basis. Inside The Buy-side® and other research on real-time investor sentiment and IR best practices are available at CorbinPerception.com.
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Excerpts from Inside The Buy-side®
Corbin Perception interviewed 28 global institutional investors across diverse industries and investment styles; selected findings include:
- The majority of investors point to the Fed as the primary catalyst of the current rally citing extreme liquidity driven by “money printing”
- 58% believe the market rally is not sustainable; in the case of a potential market correction, the majority assigns a level of 5% to 10%
- Investors forecast that 1Q13 results will be in line to slightly ahead of consensus following year-end results that were primarily viewed as “better than expected”
- Despite the ongoing Eurozone issues, the U.S. government once again ranks as the top concern for investors, with focus shifting from the fiscal cliff to the budget deficit and longer-term policy
- Investors largely project that organic growth, free cash flow and EPS will improve, indicating another notable positive change in investor sentiment
- In our ongoing research on investor preferences for uses of excess free cash, a penchant for dividends remains the top priority for the fifth consecutive quarter
About Corbin Perception
Corbin Perception is an investor research and IR advisory firm assisting public companies with driving long-term shareholder value. Core advisory services include Investor Perception Studies, Investor Targeting, Investor Presentations and Investor Days and Strategy Communication.
