World equity indices plunged during Q4 last year before staging a powerful recovery, regaining virtually all the ground they had lost. This extraordinary turn of events may look irrational, but it tells a coherent story about the fragility of investor confidence as we navigate the end of this economic cycle and approach the US elections in 2020.
In the space of just 12 months, markets have switched from expecting interest rate rises to expecting interest rate falls. Broadly speaking, this means 2019 should be a good year for fixed income. But investors are treading a fine line and need to differentiate between fixed income strategies
The UK’s departure from the European Union is still up in the air, despite setting a new date in October for leaving. There remains no clarity on where the country will stand in terms of a deal by the time the formal process is triggered. When the UK finally leaves, it probably faces two extremes – a hard or soft Brexit.
In the past three years we have seen the “revenge of the index” in the UK, where a market narrowly led by the large commodity stocks has made it harder for all-cap managers to keep pace. Are we now on the precipice of a reversion of this? Could there be enough attractive targets within the market that are opportunities for actively managed funds – heralding the return of activism? Richard Colwell, Head of UK Equities, discusses.