For the second year in a row, global equities are on course for double-digit gains, far out-pacing returns from bond markets. So far this year, only gold of the major asset classes has outshone equities, with a gain of close to 30%. Within equities, the US has become all-dominant, driven
In October, the most notable development was a sharp rise in bond yields, reversing much of the decline seen in Q3. This resulted in a challenging month for bonds, which weighed on valuations across most asset classes—though gold was a notable exception. Much of this shift was attributed to what
“The immediate market reaction following the election result was much more muted than 8 years ago, with moves mostly continuing the pattern of recent trading but volatility subdued” This monthly commentary capture the result of the US Presidential election on 5 November, and provide some comments on its implications. At
After a volatile start, markets grew bullish in September as the long awaited first cut by the Federal Reserve came, and China delivered the surprise monetary and fiscal policy announcement that many had lost hope it would ever come. Sentiment is now strong, but gold and defensive equities once again
The key moment in the global monetary policy cycle finally arrived in September, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) delivering its first interest rate cut of this cycle, the only surprise element being its size at 50bps. Other major central banks, including the European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England,
The shrinking number of companies listed in developed markets is raising concern in some quarters of the investment industry. The statistics are striking. In the US, there has been a 40% drop in the number of listed companies since 1996. The numbers are even more acute in the UK, which
Last week, the Federal Reserve delivered a highly anticipated decision, lowering interest rates and marking the beginning of a new monetary policy cycle. This shift provides an excellent opportunity to assess the current investment landscape and consider market expectations. Download PDF
A couple of weeks ago my colleague, Andre Meyer, questioned in his Global Matters piece whether there was still value in value. But what exactly is “value”? A quick “Google” suggests a common theme – buying stocks that are trading below their true worth or appear underpriced on some form
Excluding cohorts of stocks from an investment universe often sparks debate about how this impacts overall fund performance because, if you remove the best performers you can’t benefit from the strong returns that they generate. Whilst this observation is true at a high level, the reality is that certain stocks