Every quarter, Canterbury's Outsourced CIO committee shares their observations of the market that impact the management of our discretionary portfolios in the Canterbury Outsourced CIO Commentary.

A robust macroeconomic backdrop, the decline in Delta variant cases, and a dovish Fed have supported the rally of global equity and risk assets. U.S. GDP grew by 12.2% for the year ending June 30. The very large stimulus plan that has been in place over the last 19 months has achieved its goal of helping the Federal Reserve reach its dual mandate of reflating the economy and full employment. Unemployment dropped to 5.3%, and year-over-year inflation was above 5% for the third month in a row at the end of August 2021.

After a strong first half in 2021, global equity markets were slightly negative for the third quarter. The U.S. equity markets were flat, with the S&P 500 up 0.6% for the quarter and up 15.9% for the first nine months. All sectors were positive for the period, representing broad market participation. This has been a positive for active managers, as they have been able to add value over the benchmark through stock selection.

Access the Canterbury Outsourced CIO: Third Quarter 2021 Commentary