'Prophetic' Goldman Manager who foresaw 2019's equity rally bets on Europe

The asset manager is in line with other major firms like BlackRock Inc. in saying that while it's worth sticking with risk assets into 2020, the gains will be far more limited than in 2019

The Goldman Sachs asset manager who foresaw this year’s rally in equities is entering 2020 with a focus on the euro-area stocks most likely to benefit from the region’s economic recovery.

Shoqat Bunglawala, who heads the global portfolio solutions group for EMEA and Asia Pacific at the $1 trillion Goldman Sachs Asset Management, says investors are too pessimistic on Europe’s growth prospects. In early November, GSAM’s globalmulti-asset funds turned overweight on euro-area cyclicals.

“We think Europe will avoid a recession and that’ll help cyclical stocks,” Bunglawala said by phone. “The market seems to be pricing in a more negative growth outlook than