As an investment manager, it is essential to keep a close eye on market developments, both domestically and internationally, to identify investment opportunities and mitigate risks. With the challenging global outlook ahead, Asia Pacific is emerging as an attractive investment destination in 2023.

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has increased uncertainty in the market, with potential consequences for millions of people. While the assumption is that the response will be tougher sanctions, the major unknown is how the Ukrainians and the Western powers will react. The crisis has broader implications beyond emerging markets, particularly for Europe's reliance on Russian energy.

The recent underperformance of value investing has raised concerns about its future viability, but is it really broken? According to experts, the neglect of value is more likely due to the market's fixation on a handful of winning stocks rather than any structural impairment of value stocks themselves. In fact, there are plenty of fundamentally attractive companies that have been neglected in recent years and are now very affordable, creating potential opportunities for investors. With a focus on quality, selective investing in undervalued but high-quality companies could offer promising returns in the long run.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, bond markets are exhibiting extreme and sometimes counter-intuitive behaviors. With government bonds selling off at the same time as riskier assets, the market is telling you that lower rates are not the answer. Although opportunities have arisen in fixed income, investors should be wary of passive exposure to the high yield market and take a selective and cautious approach to separate the ongoing risks from the opportunities.