Baring Private Equity Asia CEO Jean Salata...Beyond 2020: Post-Election Policies...Retirement Plans' Rocky 2020

[Goldman Sachs]( [BRIEFINGS] October 7, 2020 Insights From Great Investors: Jean Salata, CEO of Baring Private Equity Asia Above (L to R): Alison Mass of Goldman Sachs and Jean Salata of Baring Private Equity Asia For Jean Salata, CEO and founding partner of Baring Private Equity Asia, navigating the pandemic requires a different approach to investing than previous financial crises he’s worked through. “In this environment that we're in at the moment, to do something new—chances are you're not going to be able to do a lot of on-site due diligence,” Salata told Goldman Sachs’ Alison Mass in the latest episode of Talks at GS Presents: Insights from Great Investors. “So you're going to need to be investing in businesses either that you already have some pre-existing relationship with the management or you've visited the business before, or are in sectors you really feel like you understand deeply enough,” he said. “For us, it's areas like health care, education, IT and IT services, software and business services.” Salata also talked about his beginnings working in Asia, and how he tried to learn from other people’s success and failures. “When we first started out, Asia was really a cottage industry when it came to private equity whereas the US and Europe, to some extent, were much more advanced,” said Salata. “And so, to me it was about learning from what other people were doing, figuring out how they’d done it and then adapting that to our business and our culture and our markets.” [Watch video]( SHARE: [twitter]( [facebook]( [LinkedIn]( [email](mailto:?subject=Insights%20From%20Great%20Investors%3A%20Jean%20Salata%2C%20CEO%20of%20Baring%20Private%20Equity%20Asia&body=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FoHc2B-eZrGY) Beyond 2020: Post-Election Policies What are the economic and trade policy implications of a Trump re-election or a Biden win? To find out, host Allison Nathan talked to former and current economic advisers to both candidates in the latest episode of the Top of Mind at Goldman Sachs podcast. Kevin Hassett, former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Trump, told Nathan that the president’s hawkish trade policy shows no signs of diminishing. “I think that tariffs have been a very effective negotiating mechanism for [President Trump]. And I think that he probably will continue to use it as such.” In contrast, Jared Bernstein, economic adviser to former Vice President Biden, said Biden’s trade policy would likely differ from Trump’s in three main areas: “Working in coalition with our traditional partners against bad actors, making sure exchange rates and capital flows are not distorting trade outcomes, and most importantly, a deep domestic investment in tradable goods sectors.” A Biden win, however, wouldn’t necessarily lead to a meaningful relaxation of US-China tensions, according to Eurasia Group’s Ian Bremmer. “I don't think tariffs just come off,” he said. “I think something has to be provided in return by the Chinese.” A US relationship that could see more immediate change, he noted, is with Europe. “Right now, the US-European relationship has probably been driven more by trade conflict between Trump and the European leaders, simply because there isn't much of an area of joint cooperation that Trump has been pursuing,” said Bremmer. “Where if Biden comes in, there would be a very significant wave of diplomatic relief and engagement among European leaders.” [Listen to podcast]( [Read report]( SHARE: [twitter]( [facebook]( [LinkedIn]( [email](mailto:?subject=Beyond%202020%3A%20Post-Election%20Policies&body=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FLCkBOp_PppQ) October QuickPoll: Markets Turn More Bullish Ahead of US Elections The US elections are dominating market sentiment as investors focus on potential policy outcomes, according to the latest Marquee QuickPoll survey of more than 1,000 Goldman Sachs institutional investor clients. Here are highlights from this month’s poll, which was conducted on October 1-2: Return of the Bulls. For the first time since January, net institutional investor sentiment has turned bullish again, albeit moderately. In this month’s QuickPoll survey, 41% of participants declared being slightly bullish or bullish, while 38% of participants declared being slightly bearish or bearish. Elections are top of mind. We are now firmly into election mode and a plurality of participants (45%) cited elections as the primary driver of markets, surpassing COVID epidemic data and vaccine developments (36%) which has held the top spot since February. Looking ahead, nearly 60% of respondents expect to see fiscal stimulus and higher taxes in the first half of 2021 in a “blue wave” scenario, while approximately 50% expect a Trump or Biden presidency along with a split Congress, resulting in fiscal stimulus only. China equities, yuan in favor. Finally, investors have turned bullish on China again with a strong bullish bias for the Chinese renminbi as well as China equities being preferred among major indices. For more information about QuickPoll and Marquee, [reach out to the team](mailto:gs-marquee-sales@ny.email.gs.com?subject=Briefings%20Follow-Up%3A%20Interested%20in%20Learning%20More%20About%20Marquee&body=Briefings%20follow-up%3A%20I%20am%20interested%20in%20learning%20more%20about%20Marquee.). SHARE: [twitter]( [facebook]( [LinkedIn]( [email](mailto:?subject=October%20QuickPoll%3A%20Markets%20Turn%20More%20Bullish%20Ahead%20of%20US%20Elections&body=) The Daily Check-In With Goldman Sachs The rise in sustainable consumerism is reshaping the way consumers, companies and investors think about categories such as food, beverages, apparel and beauty, according to [Kathy Elsesser]( global chair of the Healthcare Group and the Consumer and Retail Group in the Investment Banking Division. “These aren't new concepts, they're just becoming much more of the forefront,” Elsesser said in a recent episode of The Daily Check-In with Goldman Sachs. “We’ve always had cars, now we have Teslas. There were veggie burgers for years, now we have Beyond Meat. It's just that we're doing it better and with more focus on the environment, and I think it's a really positive thing.” As more consumers choose to make sustainable choices, Elsesser said investor appetite is only set to grow—especially given investor focus on ESG. “Stocks that have been high in ESG have really outperformed non-ESG stocks over 2020. Global cumulative net equity inflows have increased year over year in the ESG space.” In other episodes, [Taylor Jordan]( head of the Alternative Investments & Manager Selection Group for Goldman Sachs, discussed how impact investing has evolved during the pandemic, while [Luke Barrs]( head of Fundamental Equity Client Portfolio Management in EMEA and Asia ex-Japan for Goldman Sachs Asset Management, discussed the rise of thematic investing across the European and Asian fund landscape and the long-term secular trends investors are focused on. Finally, [Ben Snider]( senior strategist on the US Portfolio Strategy macro team for Goldman Sachs Research, explored the prospect of rising inflation as a potential headwind for equities. [Watch video]( SHARE: [twitter]( [facebook]( [LinkedIn]( [email](mailto:?subject=The%20Daily%20Check-In%20With%20Goldman%20Sachs&body=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2F2cmN_WoNkwY) Retirement Plans’ Rocky 2020…and Where Investors Go from Here The extraordinary volatility in markets this year has been a key point of concern among retirement investors. To offer some analysis and perspective on this issue, Mike Moran, senior pension strategist for Goldman Sachs Asset Management, joined the Exchanges at Goldman Sachs podcast to discuss his view of how pensions and other retirement plans are responding to an extremely unsettled year. Here are five takeaways from his conversation. Retirement plans’ long time horizons buffer against short-term volatility. “These plans have long time horizons and investors often want to stick with that long-term plan that’s been put in place,” Moran says. Investors are re-evaluating risk tolerance during the pandemic. Though retirement investors are largely focused on the long term, both defined benefit and defined contribution investors are mindful of the current challenges to the investing landscape and may be adjusting their investment strategies and risk profiles as a result. Fund contributions come into focus. Given the more modest outlook for returns, governments, corporations and individuals are re-assessing how much they’re going to contribute and save in the coming years to stay on track with their financial goals. “Some may find that they need to increase their contributions in order to adequately fund these long-term liabilities,” Moran says. Traditional 60/40 portfolio falls out of favor. With low interest rates seemingly here to stay, investors are taking a new look at the stocks vs. bonds breakdown in their portfolios, as well as turning to alternative asset classes to generate higher returns. Demographics lead to fund outflows. America’s aging population means that many retirement plans are in distribution mode. Outflows are set to increase as individuals withdraw from defined contribution plans, and managing those outflows will take on increased importance. [Listen to podcast]( SHARE: [twitter]( [facebook]( [LinkedIn]( [email](mailto:?subject=Retirement%20Plans%E2%80%99%20Rocky%202020%E2%80%A6and%20Where%20Investors%20Go%20from%20Here&body=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2Ff7iR6GnwUMw) Goldman Sachs Media Highlights CNBC - October 6 [Goldman’s David Kostin on Markets and Election Uncertainty]( (2:42) CNBC - October 2 [Goldman’s Jan Hatzius on September jobs report]( (5:21) Yahoo! Finance - October 1 [Investors should lean into climate solutions to find opportunities over the next decade: expert]( The Wall Street Journal - October 1 [Goldman Buys GM Credit-Card Unit In Consumer Push]( CNBC - October 1 [The impact of the Fed’s intervention on corporate credit markets]( (2:11) CNBC - October 1 [Goldman’s Brook Dane discusses the tech boom in 2020]( (4:53) Bloomberg - September 30 [Goldman's Swell Sees 'Enormous' Demand for U.S. Fixed Income Assets]( (5:47) Fortune - September 30 [Goldman Sachs CEO’s diversity advice: ‘Set very specific, aspirational goals’]( (2:03) [Subscribe]( [Unsubscribe]( The data provided in this newsletter is for information purposes only and should not be construed as investment or tax advice nor as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any particular security. Goldman Sachs believes the data in this newsletter is accurate, but does not verify its accuracy independently and does not warrant or guarantee that it is accurate or complete. 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