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Clients’ spending plans are a pivotal input to retirement planning, but rarely clear. We explore why estimates miss the mark and how advisers turn uncertainty into workable strategies.

Walter Scott’s John Rae assesses outsourced drugs manufacturer Lonza’s role in the healthcare ecosystem.

After sluggish job growth in 2025, investors are looking for signs that the labor market may be stabilizing. With consumer spending driving 70% of economic activity, an improving labor market is essential to sustaining economic growth.

Recent jobless claims data point to a resilient U.S. labor market, with both initial and continuing claims remaining low and signaling that unemployment is still contained. Although job growth has softened and remains subdued, March’s job growth of 178,000, the highest since 2024, is encouraging. Our constructive outlook still holds despite continued uncertainty related to the war in the Middle East.

Volatility has picked up as the conflict in the Middle East enters its second month. Higher oil prices are increasing inflation uncertainty and raising questions about global growth.

Markets are reacting to the Middle East conflict with sharp moves across asset classes, signaling broad risk repricing and shifting safe‑haven behavior. While volatility is elevated, fundamentals like earnings growth continue to support our constructive outlook.

Retirement planning in the UK has never stood still, but the ground is shifting more quickly and more meaningfully than many clients – and some firms – might expect.