The survey identified what risk factors asset managers thought could blow plans off course or produce a better than expected outcome.
In addition to asking respondents about expectations that could be built into their business plans, the survey was also designed to find out what risk factors they thought could blow those plans off course or produce a better than expected outcome.
As noted earlier, the net balance of risks is skewed modestly to the upside. Respondents are building in fairly neutral or mildly negative assumptions which, if the risks fail to materialize, would result in a mildly positive final outcome. The most significant of these assumptions relate to Trade Wars and Conflict. If either issue turns out to be more benign than expected, firms might expect an upside surprise in their performance.
On the downside, respondents have benign assumptions about Global Growth and Banking Stability. If either turns out to be worse than expected, the effect on their results would be negative.
