Research & Insights
MP3 policies were very successful in stimulating a rapid recovery from the pandemic. But this stimulation was applied for too long, resulting in persistent inflation and the need for central banks to slow the economy through aggressive tightening. Explore our research on the current challenges this new environment presents for investors.
Because environmental, social, and governance considerations affect how economies are evolving and how markets are priced, we seek a deep understanding of the ESG issues that are pertinent to our investment approach. We also partner with institutional investors seeking to achieve financial outcomes and have environmental and social impacts within large, liquid, multi-asset portfolios.
Bridgewater is focused on understanding the historical cause-effect relationships of complex economic situations. As we look back at the events of 2008, we invite you to explore some of the crisis-era research and decision making that enabled our investment team to understand what drove the market and helped us weather the greatest financial storm of a generation.
Over twenty years ago Bridgewater Associates pioneered portfolio balancing concepts that came to fruition with the creation of the All Weather asset allocation strategy in 1996. Read more about the concept of balance that lies behind the Risk Parity approach.
The economy is like a machine. At the most fundamental level it is a relatively simple machine, yet it is not well understood. Below we explain timeless insights of how it works and share long term perspectives that illustrate these forces playing out.
Our Research Process
Throughout our history, Bridgewater has focused on building the best possible understanding of global economies and markets. These unique insights drive our innovative investment engine, deliver returns for our clients, and inform global economic policy.
On a mission to uncover timeless and universal investment principles, our unique meritocratic culture and cutting-edge technology allow us to systematize and compound our insights over time so that our collective understanding is greater than that of any individual.
As a global macro-investment manager, we take a diversified approach spanning more than 150 different markets. With deep expertise in portfolio construction and risk management, we develop insights and design strategies to deliver value to our clients through any economic environment.
Selected Insights from Our Research Library
February 21, 2023
Our newest co-CIO shares her thoughts on the secular changes shaping economies and markets, how she’s assessing cyclical conditions around the world, and what these dynamics mean for investors.
February 14, 2023
Odds favor a third stage of this tightening cycle likely to be marked either by an economic downturn or failure to meet the inflation target, prompting more tightening. Either would be bad for most portfolios.
February 7, 2023
Co-CIO Karen Karniol-Tambour joins Bloomberg’s “Next Big Risk” to explain why recessions may be longer and deeper going forward as the fed struggles to intervene effectively.
January 24, 2023
Even with the tailwind of falling energy prices, Europe’s inflation problem looks persistent, which is bad news for European assets.
January 17, 2023
Co-CIO Bob Prince joined Bloomberg TV from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to discuss his thoughts on the economy in 2023, why a downturn is needed for inflation to fall back to target, and why we are likely entering a more volatile “boom-bust” style environment than the last decade of relatively stable conditions.
January 6, 2023
The dominant driver of markets last year was the historically large and rapid rise in interest rates. This year, the major story is likely to be the impact of higher rates as the tightening flows through to economic conditions.
December 15, 2022
Co-CIO Greg Jensen sat down with Bloomberg to share his outlook for the markets as we transition into the new year. Greg discusses what investors can expect as we shift from a world fully focused on inflation to one that is increasingly focused on a coming recession.
December 13, 2022
Bridgewater’s Co-CIO Karen Karniol-Tambour describes why today’s environment is so different from what we’ve seen in recent decades and how investors can prepare their portfolios.
November 30, 2022
The publicly traded firms in a handful of emissions-intensive sectors are responsible for about 60% of all global emissions. By allocating capital to climate solutions and carbon improvers in these sectors, investors can make progress toward their net zero goals, even if that leads to higher spot portfolio emissions than if they were to cut these emissions-intensive sectors altogether.
November 17, 2022
Bob shares his views with Milken Institute on today’s self-reinforcing inflation, what needs to happen to bring inflation down, and the likelihood of a coming recession. He also touches on the US relationship with China and the potential ramifications for the economy and capital flows going forward.
November 10, 2022
Greg Jensen and Bob Prince describe how they think the tightening cycle is likely to evolve, what it means for the economy and markets, and their areas of agreement and disagreement.
November 1, 2022
Many of the key markers of an inflation-driven bear market bottom are still missing today — little real economic weakening, few signs the central bank is ready to move to easing, and, as of yet, not much repricing of equities beyond the direct drag from rising interest rates.
October 27, 2022
Greenhouse gas emissions are highly concentrated in a few key sectors in investor portfolios; the publicly traded firms in these sectors alone are responsible for about 60% of all global emissions. Investors thinking through climate risks, climate opportunities, and net zero alignment should focus on these sectors.
October 11, 2022
Strong growth and a self-reinforcing, high level of inflation spurred the sharpest tightening in 60 years. To date, this tightening has led to weaker asset markets, but has had far less impact on economies. As Co-CIO Bob Prince illustrates, the next stage of the tightening cycle is likely to be an economic slowdown as policymakers work to bring inflation back to target.
October 12, 2022
In an interview with Bloomberg Markets, Co-CIO for Sustainability Karen Karniol-Tambour shares her views on whether the UK financial dilemma could spark contagion elsewhere, if central banks are tightening too much too quickly in trying to manage inflation, what the next big risk to assets is likely to be, and the risk of illiquidity in inflation-linked securities.
October 4, 2022
Daniel Yergin, one of the world’s leading experts on energy, and Angela Stent, one of the world’s leading experts on Russia, discuss the current state of the Russia-Ukraine war, how the war is reshaping the global energy map, and Russia’s role in an increasingly bipolar world.
September 22, 2022
High inflation and an extremely tight labor market leave the Fed with little choice but to tighten until the economy and markets weaken, setting up as bad an environment for financial assets as we have seen.
September 21, 2022
Top1000Funds highlights Co-CIO for Sustainability Carsten Stendevad’s recent conversation in a sustainability forum at Harvard University as he examines the role of investors in financing the transition to a low carbon economy and measurements involved in assessing and understanding the credibility of a company’s transition plans.
September 12, 2022
Co-CIO Greg Jensen speaks at the SALT New York forum about the biggest risks he's seeing in markets, Bridgewater's systematic approach to investing, and the big picture dynamics impacting markets and economies today.
Featured Research
We are constantly monitoring present day events and drawing lessons from history to shape and refine our understanding for how markets and economies work. Explore a collection of our research on topics ranging from debt crises to sustainable investing.
