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Asset Allocation Update: Government bonds are out – or are they?

Government bonds are currently out of favour with investors. However, we see profit potential as the impact of declining inflation outweighs concerns about fiscal deficits in the short term. Contrary to consensus, we are raising the USD to neutral in the short term.

Author: Nicola Grass

Kompass und Armbanduhr
The role of government bonds in a changing interest rate environment (Image: Eugenia Ai / Unsplash.com)

What changes have we made to the portfolios?

The interest rate cut cycle is gaining momentum in the USD region. Inflation is expected to decline further, driven by housing and services. In the eurozone, inflation is already below 2%.

The growing number of smaller issuers in the IT sector has driven a rapid price increase in convertible bonds, which, in our view, now reflects overly optimistic developments.

The Bloomberg Commodity Index has been evenly split into four major sectors by price. Energy is expected to lose weight due to oversupply. Precious and industrial metals need a breather, while no clear trend is visible in agriculture.

While we expect a significantly weaker USD in the medium term, short-term headwinds are easing. This aligns with consensus, and we anticipate a period of softer rhetoric and less aggressive economic policies from the US.

Bond markets: falling yield curves

Although inflation in the US has risen above 3% again, we believe this is only a temporary increase. Therefore, we consider a low-inflation scenario to be likely – both in the US and globally. Under these circumstances, we expect attractive returns on government bonds (except in Switzerland), as yields could decline. Additionally, governments will need to stabilise their budgets to avoid deterring investors. As a result, portfolios should include more bonds, including those from the US. This also allows for a higher weighting of the USD.

Figure 1: Decline in inflation not yet reflected in yields

Sources: Bloomberg, Zürcher Kantonalbank

Alternative Investments: Pressure on Commodities

We assess the outlook for commodities as moderate, for three reasons: 

  1. In the energy sector, prices are likely to decline to address oversupply, which could align with the US government’s interests.
  2. In industrial metals, the 25% rise in copper prices this year (5.5% weighting in the BCOM Index) has likely already priced in much of the anticipated demand for electrification.
  3. For precious metals, we expect a consolidation in the coming weeks following the hype from September to mid-October.

Chart: Weightings Bloomberg Commodity Index

Source: Bloomberg

Equities: Status quo

No changes are planned for equities. We remain slightly overweight as we view economic conditions, earnings growth, and financial conditions as favourable. A hotly debated topic is whether capital expenditures for data centres by major "hyperscalers" will pay off. While these investments are often self-financed, we see signs that financial flexibility may be reaching its limits. Indicators include massive debt financing by companies like Oracle and Meta, as well as the fact that investments now account for 70% of operating cash flow. Nonetheless, the megatrend of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to expand to other companies, both directly and indirectly. As such, IT and pharmaceuticals remain overweight in our portfolios. Regionally, emerging markets, particularly Asia, stand out with their strength in IT and large domestic markets. 

Our Tactical Asset Allocation in EUR for November 2025

Relative weighting vs. Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA) in % in October and November 2025 (Source: Zürcher Kantonalbank, Asset Management)

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