Alex Crooke, Fund Manager of the Bankers Investment Trust, explains how the team is preparing for a different investment landscape in the second half of 2019. It’s in our nature as fund managers to continually…
Week in review: apocalypse now? No, not yet.
Generally, it’s only reports of death that are said to be exaggerated, but the other Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse all made an appearance this week. Happily, though, investors seemed relatively unaffected by a sense…
Week in Review: US bonds: shaken and stirred
Higher US inflation sparked a sell-off in bonds this week. Investors’ fear of an overheating US economy increased this week as the US government reported that consumer prices rose more quickly in January than analysts…
Week in Review: Meltdown!
It’s been a while, but share-price volatility is back – and how! This week, the world’s main equity markets plunged sharply on Monday, bounced briefly mid-week, then slumped again on Thursday. The S&P 500’s 4.1%…
Week in Review: The hangover kicks in
Many of us are celebrating the end of what has been a bleak and joyless month. Pay day has come around at last and it’s time to dispense with ‘dry January’, or forget about those…
Week in Review: A shared future
All eyes were on Davos, a small town in the Swiss Alps, as world leaders, business people and other VIPs congregated to share perspectives on the theme of “Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured…
Week in Review: One in the eye
“When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life,” said Samuel Johnson. The legendary lexicographer might have been speaking of bankers (both male and female), as comments this week indicated that reports…
Week in Review: The only way is up
It’s all getting a bit tiresome, isn’t it? Many global stock markets hit yet another succession of fresh highs this week. The strongest returns came from Asian markets, with the MSCI Pacific Index up 1.4%.…
Week in Review: global equities hit record highs
The new year began pretty much as the old year ended, with shares continuing to chart a seemingly inexorable upward path. Stock market indices touched record highs in the first three business days of 2018.…
Week in Review: hybrid vigour
With the Nasdaq gaining some 28% this year (and Bitcoin up a mere 1,624% against the dollar), technology’s been the talk of the town. But the lines between tech companies and other areas of the…
Latin America, but without the noise
Latin America is seen as a hotbed of political disruption and volatility, but there are ways to generate a smoother ride in the region. - Latin America is an exciting place to invest, but investors…
Week in review: bordering on the farcical
We got there in the end. After a week of diplomatic toing and froing and more than one trip back to the drawing board, the UK finally reached a historic deal on its EU divorce…
Myths about the US market
Active investors in North America face a number of persistent myths: The first, and most common, is that it is impossible to beat the US market. Many continue to believe that there is little mispricing…
Week in review: a bit of a bubble?
Digital currencies were in choppy waters this week. The value of bitcoin surged above $11,000 for the first time, before dipping by around 16% on Thursday. Such volatility is not unusual in the world of…
Week in Review: Walking a tightrope
Opponents of Angela Merkel may have felt a hint of Schadenfreude this week. Once Europe’s most powerful leader, she is now fighting to prolong her 12-year reign as Germany’s Chancellor. Merkel’s angst The troubles started…
Week in review: electric nightmares?
Global equity markets failed to light up this week as investors reacted to mixed economic data and corporate earnings news. At first, positive corporate trading reports were thin on the ground, and included a disappointing…
Week in Review: “And now there came an Amazon …”
So ends one version of the Iliad, as the Amazon queen Penthesilea arrives to do battle with the Greeks. The Amazons of ancient myth were fearsome female warriors from Scythia. The modern incarnation is an e-commerce…
Week in Review: take a hike
The Bank of England increased interest rates for the first time in a decade in an effort to ward off inflation pressures. Its Monetary Policy Committee voted seven to two in favour of raising the…
Small is beautiful
It has become commonplace to say that the UK is facing uncertainty: from its borders, to its trading arrangements, to its political make-up, Brexit brings plenty of potential pitfalls. In theory, UK smaller companies should…