CEO INSIGHTS – Week Ending 26 July 2019 By NAOS Asset Management

Global Aviation

"In 2018, we saw the ninth straight year of above-trend growth for passenger traffic. So far in 2019 passenger traffic has grown at a solid 4.6% through May. On the air cargo market, we saw a contraction in the year-to-date traffic." Dennis Muilenburg, CEO, The Boeing Company

"Our view of the demand fundamentals remains robust. We are highly confident in our industry outlook which now forecasts the demand for approximately 44,000 new airplanes over the next 20 years. That's up from approximately 43,000 in our previous forecast, doubling the size of the global fleet." Dennis Muilenburg, CEO, The Boeing Company

Global Auto

"We have seen enduring weakness in the UK and US markets...We anticipate that this softness will continue for the rest of the year and are planning prudently for 2020." Andy Palmer, CEO, Aston Martin

"We are also seeing discrete signs of stability in our business in China, even as the economy in vehicle market there remains under recent and persistent stress." James Hackett, CEO, Ford

Domestic Retail

"Demand in Australia remained weak, due to the slower housing market and also the weaker Australian dollar. Sales volumes in Australia declined as a result of the slow Australian market and the price increases we implemented to mitigate increased costs related to the currency headwinds." Jonas Samuelson, CEO, Electrolux

Agriculture

"In the next couple of months, at least, we are not expecting supply to suddenly increase, so there will be continued pressure on price. Mutton has just cracked $6/kg so you are currently paying more for mutton than you are for grain fed beef at the moment which is pretty crazy." Scott Tolmie, Manager, Meat & Livestock Australia

"African swine flu hitting them [China] recently lit a fire under demand [for Australian meat]." Scott Tolmie, Manager, Meat & Livestock Australia

Health

"Since 2015, we have seen a 20% fall in the number of applications for GP [General Practitioner] training, and a 6% drop in the number of first year GP training posts filled." Dr Tony Bartone, President, Australian Medical Association

Technology

"In a world where every company is a software company, developers will play an increasingly vital role in value creation across every organization." Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft Corp

"When I look at the kinds of private interactions we can make easier, payments may be the most important for the long term." Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Facebook Inc

"So even if it [virtual reality] has taken longer than we expected to deliver this at scale, I continue to believe that this will be one of the most important contributions we make to the way we all use technology over the long term." Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Facebook Inc

"I believe this WiFi 6 [next generation WiFi] upgrade is significantly more appealing than the previous upgrades. This is akin to replacing a 2-lane freeway with an 8-lane freeway." Patrick Lo, CEO, Netgear Inc [multinational manufacturer of network hardware]

Domestic Economy

"If demand growth is not sufficient, the board is prepared to provide additional support by easing monetary policy further, however, as I have discussed on other occasions, other arms of public policy could also play a role in this scenario." Philip Lowe, Governor, Reserve Bank of Australia

Global Economy

"The current economic backdrop is the most puzzling I have experienced in my career." James Foote, CEO, CSX Corporation [rail & property conglomerate]

"The consumer in the United States is doing fine." Jamie Dimon, CEO, JP Morgan

"We’re working to offset the impact of interest rates, especially now if we and the industry face a period of lower-for-longer rates." James von Moltke, CFO, Deutsche Bank AG

"[Commenting on their recent global redundancy measures] our businesses were not immune to industrywide lower levels of client activity." James von Moltke, CFO, Deutsche Bank AG

Environmental, Social and Governance

"We're seeing greater demand for ESG and for sustainable investments." Laurence Fink, CEO, BlackRock Inc

Oil

"On the [oil] supply side, we continue to see U.S. shale oil as the only near to medium-term source of global production growth." Paal Kibsgaard, CEO, Schlumberger Ltd [world’s largest oilfield services company]