Go Risk-On in 2013: BlackRock’s Fredericks
Online Producer
Despite uncertainty ahead of the "fiscal cliff," it's a good time to add portfolio risk, BlackRock's Michael Fredericks said Friday.
On "Fast Money," Fredericks brushed off worries about the stalemate in Washington's budget negotiations.
"I think this impasse isn't a big surprise to our team," he said. "I'm sure that this tap-dance in D.C. will dominate the headlines here in the coming weeks, but if anything we're really trying to look out to 2013 and think about the best way to deliver income for our clients."
Fredericks shared his vision of an ideal investment mix.
"Our portfolio is made up of high-quality stocks that pay healthy dividends and have good growth rates," he said. "We own investment-grade bonds, and we own high-yield bonds, preferred stocks.
"But at the margin, we've been putting more money to work in markets where you haven't had this big pursuit of income."
Fredericks said that he was looking to emerging market stocks, where yields were in the 4 percent range and would grow at a 12 percent rate.
"Both in the case of emerging markets and Asian high-yield bonds, if you look at the fund flows, virtually no money has really moved into those asset classes here over the course of the last year," he said. "I think we're going to need to be more creative in where we find income going forward."
