At a time when investors are mixed on the U.S. market, one portfolio manager remains optimistic and sees reasons to stay invested. “We really like the U.S.,” Aneka Beneby, portfolio manager at Julius Baer International, told CNBC Pro last month. “Now that the [U.S.] election result is clear and behind us, we can reasonably assume a higher growth rate in the U.S., and that’s probably going to lead to an end of year rally,” she said. Her comments come as U.S. stocks have had a stellar rise this year, with the S & P 500 up 27.5% so far. Both the S & P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite kicked off the last month of the year by rising to new records and adding to November’s gains. Experts have predicted that the indexes, especially the S & P 500, will rise even further . However, some market watchers like Morningstar’s top executive Kunal Kapoor consider the U.S. market “expensive” and are looking for cheaper opportunities with better risk-adjusted returns. Looking ahead to 2025, Beneby expects the U.S. to log higher growth of around 2.5%, up from 2% previously. Meanwhile, she predicts that inflation levels will edge up to around 3.4% next year — well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. These will translate to the Fed funds rate falling by between 4-4.25% by March next year, she added. At present, the Fed funds rate stands at 4.5-4.75%. Sectors to watch Against the current outlook, Beneby said investors should “want to be in the market at this particular point of time.” “We are invested over the long term and part of that is staying invested, not trying to play the market, per se, in and out, because it’s very difficult to time that,” she said. “There are some tactical things that you can do given what’s going on,” she explained. Aside from the U.S., the long-term investor is also keeping watch on opportunities in global companies with diversified revenue sources across countries. She is especially bullish on large cap quality growth companies which “have been able to withstand higher interest rates.” “They’re profitable, they’re generating lots of cash, and they have large cash balances,” Beneby explained. Drawing reference to the recent results cycle, she noted that there has been a “broadening out” of earnings growth, “which has been encouraging.” “So, no longer is our view centered on the Magnificent Seven to drive returns — we’re looking at adding that cyclicality to the portfolio now,” she said. The so-called Magnificent Seven stocks , which capture tech giants: Alphabet , Amazon , Apple , Meta Platforms , Microsoft , Nvidia and Tesla , have been investor favorites over the past two years. Beyond these companies, Beneby is still looking favorably at large-cap tech stocks globally and sees potential, especially in companies in cloud computing and artificial intelligence. “There’s often been an argument made that these companies are expensive. We think they’re fairly valued at the moment, but far from bubble territory, so we’re still quite positive in that space,” she explained. Other themes she’s bullish on include industrials and financials. Within the financials space, Beneby likes U.S. banks and expects them to do well given deregulation, a higher inflationary environment and corresponding higher yields under President-elect Donald Trump’s administration. — CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Alex Harring contributed to the report
