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Week in Review: holding fire
For someone who goes under the nickname “Spreadsheet Phil”, UK Chancellor Philip Hammond’s first Budget was surprisingly upbeat. Containing only 28 measures compared to 77 within George Osborne’s previous Spring Budget, it was a noticeably…
Politics and financial markets: an uneasy relationship
By Cherry Reynard. Politics have influenced financial markets, but does this mean they should influence investors? The influence of political events on markets is largely unpredictable Political disruption may bring opportunities where markets over-react …
Ignore Trump and Invest in Mexico
It would be fair to say that Donald Trump is not everyone’s cup of tea. In his short spell in office he has picked fights with seven Muslim countries, argued with supposed allies such as…
A turning tide for globalisation: The impact on emerging markets
By Cherry Reynard. Anti-globalisation sentiment threatens to dent global trade Emerging markets have been a beneficiary of globalisation and therefore look vulnerable Reversing the tide of globalisation will be extremely difficult and emerging markets may…
Charts That Make You Go Hmmmm! STOP PRESS
First, apologies to Grant Williams, author of “Thoughts that make you go hmmm!” for bastardising the name of his research letter. We sit here running out of superlatives to describe the majesty of the rise…
Week in Review: Snap’d up
Yesterday saw Snapchat go public in the largest float since Chinese eCommerce giant Alibaba in 2014. The company’s young founders – one of whom is a Stanford drop-out – become the latest tech multi-billionaires. In…
Who wants to be an ISA millionaire?
By David Prosser. "Analysis from Fidelity Investments suggests that starting from scratch today, you could be an ISA millionaire in less than three decades" Here’s a thought to cheer you up this miserable winter: in…
Interview with Peru’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Alfredo Thorne
How do you hope to improve Peru’s economic performance? Alfredo Thorne: In the short term, we have set out to reverse the decline in investment over the last three years. This is important because we…
Alternative Investments for an Alternative World
Chris Darbyshire, Chief Investment Officer. 28 February 2017. Professional analysts, bookmakers and pollsters failed to predict the outcomes of two key votes in 2016. Contrary to most expectations, we are now hurtling down the road…
How Will Brexit Impact Latin America?
What Happened? Britain shocked the world when it voted to leave the European Union. The referendum on the 23rd June resulted in a 52% to 48% vote in favour of leaving, sending out economic and…
Into the wilderness…
While we are typically a ‘glass half full’ bunch, recent developments around the world might have left many investors feeling slightly negative in their outlook for global markets. Let’s start with President Trump. Yes, though…
The Confluence of Price, Momentum, Sentiment and Positioning is Very Interesting
With fixed income and FX markets just showing signs that the Trump reflation trade is at risk of faltering, next week sees some important speeches. On Tuesday, President Trump will address The House in what…
With the launch of the new 12 sided £1 coin in March, we look again at the future of cash in society
Is cash still the bedrock of our civilisation? As the table below reflects, we’ve been writing off cash for 6 decades. Last year Waverton fund manager James Mee put forward the question: “Is the cashless…
Week in review: Germany powers ahead
For most of February, the UK has been in the heady position of boasting the world’s fastest growing major advanced economy. First estimates from the Office for National Statistics, published at the back end of…
Andean Gold Rush Attracts Investors
Despite the immense geological potential, with over 100 million ounces of gold discovered by explorers in recent years, investor interest in Colombia had started to wane due the perception that the government couldn’t permit projects…
Week in review: the return of inflation
Inflation is back. Figures released this week on both sides of the Atlantic painted a picture of rising prices – and the possibility of an end to the days of ultra-low price increases. The UK’s…
The Struggle Between Equity and Bond Investors
As we sit here trying to navigate the markets and the news flow, we are seeing a number of inconsistencies crop up. With US equities continuing their march upwards, it would appear that these guys…
Commodity Price Bounce
Ben Kumar, Investment Manager. 17 February 2017. Over the last 12 months, commodities have been surging in value, with the Bloomberg Commodity Index rising 14% in US Dollar terms. On the back of this, we’ve…