Second Quarter 2023 – Summary

Central banks have spent the last year or so pushing interest rates higher at their fastest pace for decades in the face of an inflation shock. Cracks were exposed in several large US regional banks which saw regulators step in to protect depositors amidst a flight of both confidence and cash. This sparked a wave […]
Second Quarter 2023 – Market Outlook

Sitting on the conveyor belt of time January saw markets on good form. The nasty 2022 was in the rear-view mirror and an early dose of optimism was bubbling up to the surface, driven by the feeling that central banks were coming to the end of their rate rising cycle and that inflation would be […]
Market Returns – a whistle-stop tour of some of the movers and shakers during the quarter

The chart shows the returns in local currency across a cross sample of major indices. The table below shows Investment Association sector average returns broken down by asset class and geography, this time in sterling. The US dollar was strong in 2022 vs. sterling, yen and euro but there has been a step change in […]
Banking under stress: A reminder of yesteryear, not a repeat of history

After such a turbulent 2022, 2023 had been feeling a little more sedate and peaceful until financial cracks began emerging in the banking system as a consequence of central banks raising rates at their fastest pace for decades. The events that unfolded during March, saw a number of US regional bank failures and ongoing questions […]
UK: Back on the front foot?

To great fanfare, the FTSE 100 surpassed an index level of 8000 during the last quarter, reaching a new index high and prompting a mixture of headlines, ranging from the soothsaying “When will it hit 9000?” to those questioning “Will it still stay at its highs?”. The FTSE 100 hit 7000 in March 2015; a […]