Gargi Chaudhuri, BlackRock Americas chief investment and portfolio strategist, joins Morning Brief hosts Brad Smith and Seana Smith to discuss how investors should position themselves amid the rate-cutting cycle and ahead of the election.

The strategist explains that the market “backdrop is really great, especially for those investors looking to earn income in the fixed-income market….In the belly of the curve, go into the income-generating parts of the market, such as securitized assets, such as defensive high yield, such as parts of emerging markets.”

Chaudhuri notes that recent normalization in the labor market and other aspects of the economy is not a reason for investors to fret. She says “I want investors to understand that this is normal. This isn't something that they should be worried about or scared of. They should continue to remain invested.”

“We love leaning into quality call as a way of expressing that view and then broadening out to value, especially to large-cap value where we think we're going to see a little bit of performance return, especially as we go into these last three months,” she adds. Chaudhuri tells Yahoo Finance that when looking for a quality company, she watches for consistent strong earnings growth, the ability to generate ample cash flow, and low leverage.

Ahead of the election, Chaudhuri tells investors, “Think about the areas of the market that will do regardless of what happens in November or January 2025…We understand that you might be nervous about the elections, but keep politics out of your portfolio.” She highlights infrastructure, manufacturing, and independent tech as opportunities for bipartisan plays.

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This post was written by Naomi Buchanan.