2018 was a tough year for markets. UK equities (measured by the FTSE All-Share index) fell by -9.5% (see Chart 1). However, this index is dominated by global multinational companies such as HSBC, Shell and GlaxoSmithKline. The more UK focussed FTSE 250 Index fell by -17.6%. Part of this is of course Brexit related (of which […]
Chris Brown, CIO Global equities are down around -8% for the quarter as we type on Friday 26th October. It is always tempting to theorise about why this should be and we have a couple of good hypotheses for the sell-off below. But it is also worth restating the basic maxim that you earn the […]
After a relatively quiet 2017, markets have once again become jumpier this year. Since the end of January, the US S&P 500 Index is +2.1% as we write. However, the UK FTSE 100 Index is -3.9% and the MSCI Emerging Market Index is down a whopping -21.5% (see Table 1). Is this an opportunity or […]
Ros Price, Investment Committee Member. Donald Trump was elected President of the US in part because of his powerful slogan that put ‘America first’ and his strong belief that the rest of the world has been treating the US badly and indeed, unfairly, in terms of trade. Some may find this assertion strange given the […]
Chris Brown, Chief Investment Officer With six months to go, we thought it would be a good time to take stock of where we are on Brexit and the implications the different possible outcomes would have on our portfolios and returns. From a market perspective, a fudgy, compromisey, typically European style deal which pleases no […]
2017 turned out to be an unusually quiet year for financial markets. Politics was as rumbustious and headline making as always but markets generally look through this unless someone somewhere is about to do something really stupid (like start a trade war, of which more below). Meanwhile, the news from the economy was of strong […]
Our outlook at the start of 2018 is pretty similar to the one we had at the start of 2017. We know that equity markets have come a long way since the lows of 2009 and we know that we are probably nearer the end of the current economic cycle (which is now over seven […]
Ros Price, Investment Committee Member. It’s the time of year when – at least until MiFID ll rule changes allow starting next January – when fund managers have inboxes deluged with the outlook for next year. Most make quite turgid reading I am sorry to say and that’s not just the content, but the writing […]
Ros Price, Investment Committee Member. Following the Great Financial Crash of 2007/8 here in the UK, inflation first rose above the Bank of England’s 2% target as the economy struggled to come to grips with the calamity that had befallen it. Interest rates were slashed globally and unconventional monetary policies were introduced by central banks […]
It feels like for maybe half the developed world, 2016 was a year to forget. For the other half, it was a year where the people finally took back some control from the unelected elites. Wherever you sit in this divide, we thought we would start this update with a review of 2016 and what […]
