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Viewpoint

Global Matters Monthly Viewpoint – October 2024

“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

by Harmony Portfolios
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Fact Sheet

Momentum Fact Sheet — September 2024

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

by Harmony Portfolios
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Viewpoint

Global Matters Quarterly Viewpoint – September 2024

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,

by Harmony Portfolios
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Weekly Digest

Weekly Review – China’s economic stimulus – Hope on the horizon?

The chart above shows the recent performance of Chinese equities, proxied here by the country’s blue-chip CSI 300 index of Shanghai and Shenzen- listed companies, following the announcement of monetary stimulus from the

Weekly Digest

Global Matters Weekly – Honey, I shrunk the listings

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

by Harmony Portfolios
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Weekly Digest

Global Matters Weekly – History doesn’t repeat but it often rhymes

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

by Harmony Portfolios
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Weekly Digest

Global Matters Weekly – Defining value

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

by Harmony Portfolios
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Viewpoint

Viewpoint – August 2024

By the end of August, the big correction in markets in late July/early August seemed a distant memory, with markets quickly regaining most of the ground lost in that sudden and very brief risk-off event. Most asset classes and markets ended August in positive territory, with the MSCI World index

Weekly Digest

Global Matters Weekly – To exclude or not to exclude? That is the question

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

by Harmony Portfolios
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