How to protect your portfolio if there's not a soft landing

In this article:

While the majority of investors are confident the economy will see the Fed's goal of a soft landing, some worry that hard landing risks are underpriced amid a slowing consumer labor market and government spending. BlackRock Head of iShares Investment Strategy Americas Kristy Akullian breaks down how investors can manage risk and protect themselves in the event that a soft landing is not achieved.

"We're still relatively constructive on the equity markets and on risk assets more broadly. And part of that is just because growth has held up better than we expected to. So I think that we're generally risk-on, but that certainly doesn't mean that we're reaching for risky assets," Akullian says. Instead, she encourages hedging and "getting smarter" about the volatility expected in the second half of the year.

In order to manage risk, she encourages investors to pick "the highest quality companies across sectors rather than taking a really specific sector bet." She points to yields that are on offer and fixed income as solid investment opportunities to capture higher yields and diversify portfolios.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Wealth!

This post was written by Melanie Riehl

Advertisement