Core Viewpoint - Morgan Stanley expresses a cautious outlook for the first half of 2025 for the U.S. stock market but is optimistic about the second half and 2026, maintaining a 12-month target of 6,500 points for the S&P 500 index [1] Group 1: Market Outlook - The S&P 500 index components have experienced an average decline of 30% this year, indicating that market price lows may have already been reached [1] - The recent reduction of China's overall tariff rate from 145% to 30% significantly lowers recession risks [1] - Morgan Stanley's economists predict seven interest rate cuts in 2026, supporting above-average valuations [1] Group 2: Earnings Projections - Morgan Stanley forecasts EPS of $259 for 2025 (7% growth), $283 for 2026 (9% growth), and $321 for 2027 (13% growth) [3] - The past three years have seen a "rolling earnings recession" in the U.S. stock market, easing year-over-year basis pressures and laying the groundwork for future EPS recovery [3] Group 3: Investment Recommendations - The company advises maintaining a "high-quality curve" in cyclical sectors and selectively hedging defensively, focusing on low-leverage, undervalued stocks [3] - The industrial sector rating has been upgraded from "neutral" to "overweight," benefiting from domestic infrastructure development, while the utilities sector rating has been downgraded from "overweight" to "neutral" [3] - The recommendation is to overweight large-cap stocks due to their stronger pricing power and lower sensitivity to backend interest rates, with a preference for the U.S. stock market over international markets [3]

Core Insights - Emerging market investment is likened to constructing skyscrapers in geologically active zones, requiring both the harnessing of energy from tectonic movements and the management of seismic risks [2] - Shanghai Zhongguang Yunzhi Investment has developed a three-dimensional analytical framework to deconstruct the risk-return characteristics of emerging markets into quantifiable, hedgeable, and manageable investment elements [2] Risk Assessment - Risk assessment is a prerequisite for investment decisions, with the team creating an emerging market country scorecard that includes 12 core indicators such as political stability, external debt structure, and current account balance [2] - The team quantifies a country's repayment ability using the ratio of sovereign credit default swap (CDS) spreads to months of foreign exchange reserves, and predicts political risk premiums through election cycles and policy continuity indices [2] - In a specific investment decision regarding a Latin American country, the team identified an inflation rate inversion beyond historical thresholds, combined with rising social unrest indices, leading to a decision to limit allocation to 30% of the benchmark, successfully avoiding subsequent currency crises [2] Asset Allocation - Asset allocation should establish a robust structure, with Shanghai Zhongguang Yunzhi Investment employing a "core-satellite" strategy, focusing core positions on consumption and financial sectors while satellite positions capture cyclical opportunities in technology and resources [2] - The team has developed a unique "moat width" assessment model that considers local advantages, supply chain control, and government relationship resilience in industry selection [2] Liquidity Management - Liquidity management is a critical line of defense in risk control, with emerging markets exhibiting a "dual-track" liquidity characteristic, showing significant price differences between official and offshore markets, as well as between large-cap and small-cap stocks [3] - The team has constructed a liquidity stress testing model to simulate asset liquidity under extreme scenarios such as capital control upgrades and foreign capital withdrawal [3] - During a recent volatility in the Indian stock market, the portfolio utilized a pre-configured liquidity buffer to increase positions in quality assets during market panic, turning the crisis into an opportunity for excess returns [3] Currency Risk Hedging - Currency risk hedging reflects a refined strategy, with the team moving away from a single derivative hedging model to develop a "currency basket + natural hedge" tool [3] - This approach involves configuring a basket of currencies such as USD, EUR, and RMB based on export structures, while also holding stocks of resource-exporting companies to hedge against local currency depreciation [3] - During the Turkish lira crisis, this strategy kept the portfolio's currency risk exposure net below 5%, and the holdings in energy companies benefited from enhanced export competitiveness due to lira depreciation, partially offsetting exchange losses [3] Investment Philosophy - The essence of emerging market investment is a dynamic game of risk and return, with Shanghai Zhongguang Yunzhi Investment's practices demonstrating that systematic evaluation frameworks, structured allocation tools, and refined risk control systems can help investors balance geopolitical changes and economic growth potential [3] - This investment philosophy is characterized by neither blind risk-taking nor excessive caution, but rather achieving optimal solutions for risk premiums and return elasticity through data-driven decision-making [3]