Economic and market insight
Review of the week
Review of the week: Everything is up
Markets have had a stellar run, despite mixed news on inoculations. It’s in everyone’s interests for asset prices to remain high, but that’s no guarantee they will stay that way. As always, diversification is key.
6 mins
Review of the week: E pluribus unum
One President will be sworn in as his predecessor is set to be impeached. What matters for the US now is a united front from lawmakers to support the economy against the latest wave of COVID-19.
7 mins
Review of the week: A Christmas like no other
While we were all cooped up inside, everything was happening out there. Breakthroughs on Brexit and COVID-19 collided with political strife and big moves in bond yields.
7 mins
Review of the week: Playing fair by trade
Brexit was always going to be hard. The tortuous negotiation of a trade deal highlights the difficult compromise at its heart: the freedom of sovereignty or the prosperity that comes with smooth trade.
7 mins
Review of the week: Making sense of the numbers
Stock markets shot the lights out in November as news of promising vaccines hit the wires. The realities of distribution have lessened the glow a bit recently, leading investors to start reassessing their approach.
7 mins
Review of the week: Thanksgiving may be a super-spreader; will vaccine news bring holiday cheer?
Thanksgiving may be a super-spreader event this year, as governments around the world try to plan their way through the upcoming festive season. But investors have been given a boost from good vaccine news.
5 mins
Review of the week: The race to roll out a vaccine is on as markets soar
News of a potentially viable vaccine is welcome, yet markets have rocketed back extremely quickly considering it is yet to be approved. With COVID-19 spreading rapidly once again, time is of the essence.
7 mins
Review of the week: Telling stories
When it comes to grabbing headlines and stealing attention, reality is at a disadvantage to imagination. Our chief investment officer, Julian Chillingworth, ponders what it means for politics and investments.
8 mins
Review of the week: Here we go again
England will soon plunge back into lockdown. It shouldn’t be as economically painful as the first time around, says chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth. But it won’t be good.
8 mins
Review of the week: The spooky season
Halloween is stuffed full of potential frights this year and a bit light on the fun. Chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth tiptoes around Brexit, US elections and earnings season.
6 mins
Review of the week: Sliced and diced
We all try to structure our financial affairs as efficiently as possible, so we have more money to do what we want with our lives. Yet sometimes our financial affairs start to affect the structure of our lives and our communities, notes chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth.
8 mins
Review of the week: Predicting the unpredictable
Biden has taken the edge in the polls but previous experience begs the question: do polls really matter? Our chief investment officer, Julian Chillingworth, mulls the possible outcomes of the US election and the effectiveness of the UK government’s spending packages.
6 mins
What a time to join
Our (sort of) new Rathbone Funds chief investment officer Tom Carroll joined us as a decade-long economic world order was ending with a bang. Did he have to search under the desks for his fund managers?
4 mins
When the love disappears
It’s Valentine’s Day so David Coombs, our head of multi-asset investments, is taking the duchess out for Pizza Express. Alright, it was a week ago, but he’s still a cheapskate. Just not when it comes to investments.
5 mins
Lessons from a tough 2022
Central banks dominated markets in 2022, sending UK smaller companies tumbling. Yet UK Opportunities Fund manager Alexandra Jackson argues 2023 will be a year when investors start paying attention to companies’ fundamentals once again.
2 mins
Low expectations, even lower valuations
Britain has suffered through an omnicrisis for almost six months and recession looms on the horizon. And yet UK markets have been a bright spot, notes Rathbone Income Fund co-manager Alan Dobbie. What’s going on?
4 mins
From ‘TINA’ to ‘TANIA’…
Head of fixed income Bryn Jones explains why even the most tenacious equity bulls are starting to acknowledge that the era of ‘there is no alternative’ to stocks is finally done.
3 mins
Run, Rabbit, Run
Ahead of the largest annual human migration in the world, China has opened the floodgates to economic growth and COVID-19. Multi-asset fund manager Will McIntosh-Whyte hopes the Lunar New Year is a happy and prosperous one, for the Chinese and for the world.
5 mins
2023: The year ahead. Maybe?
After a pretty questionable effort at predicting 2022, our head of multi-asset investments, David Coombs, dusts himself off and leaps into 2023.
2 mins
Great Expectations?
Multi-asset fund manager Will McIntosh-Whyte channels his inner Scrooge as he confronts Christmases Past and Present. Can they provide investors with helpful insights about what’s to come?
6 mins
Keeping warm without overheating the planet?
Old buildings that fail to keep in heat aren’t just expensive for their residents. They’re also costly for the climate. Head of Equities Sanjiv Tumkur examines some of the innovations seeking to address this challenge.
3 mins
Bonds and (investment) goals
As head of fixed income Bryn Jones remembers his favourite World Cup, he asks whether investors might want to think about revisiting their bond allocations as they try to meet their investment goals.
3 mins
The Naked Coin
The implosion of one the largest crypto exchanges will be a massive shock to many holders of digital assets. Head of multi-asset investments David Coombs remembers a reality check of his own from 10 years ago.
5 mins
Can ‘quality’ stocks deliver recession resilience at a reasonable price?
Slowing economic growth, high inflation and rising interest rates are weighing heavily on global equity markets. Favouring different equity ‘styles’ is one way to try to protect portfolios. Head of equities Sanjiv Tumkur explains that stocks with strong ‘quality’ characteristics tend to outperform in economic slowdowns. So what defines a ‘quality’ company?
3 mins