Economic and market insight
Review of the week
Review of the week: 2022 wrapped up
We look back at a grim year for financial markets. The rebound in the last few months seems to offer investors some relief, but can we be confident that the worst is over?
5 mins
Review of the week: The upside down
Watchers of Netflix’s Stranger Things will know the Upside Down isn’t a cheery place to be. So what’s going on in bond markets?
6 mins
Review of the week: Behind the curtain
More is going on behind the curtain of modern China than its leaders would have you believe, if increasing unrest is anything to go by. Meanwhile, Europeans cross their fingers for a mild winter.
7 mins
Review of the week: Inflation slows, stocks surge
Stocks flew higher after inflation came in lower than expected. It’s tough and getting tougher for businesses and families though, especially in the UK.
6 mins
Review of the week: Imaginings and disappointments
Central banks are doggedly raising interest rates. Investors hopeful for a change of tack may continue to be disappointed for a while yet.
7 mins
Review of the week: Big Tech’s scary sell-off
Investors got spooked as Big Tech’s quarterly results showed they weren’t immune to economic headwinds, driving brutal sell-offs. Meanwhile, the UK government’s huge about-face seems to be reaping a ‘dullness dividend’.
6 mins
Review of the week: The price of milk
Inflation continues to eat away at shoppers’ spending power, both in the UK and abroad. Meanwhile, how do currency fluctuations affect investment returns?
10 mins
Review of the week: More than full circle
New Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has reversed virtually everything announced in the Truss-Kwarteng mini-budget in a bid to stabilise markets after weeks of turmoil.
9 mins
Review of the week: Credibility is the currency
The Bank of England has kept the gilt market greased and the Chancellor has brought forward the date he will reveal his detailed fiscal plans, easing pressure on the UK. Meanwhile, inflation still reigns supreme in investors’ minds.
7 mins
Review of the week: Maelstrom
Soaring bonds yields sent mortgage rates skyrocketing. However, they also upended pension funds in a nasty feedback loop that threatened to send many of them to the wall.
7 mins
Review of the week: Like a stone
The mini-budget will drastically reduce taxation and increase borrowing. It has rattled everyone, from the backbenches to bond markets. Will the gamble pay off?
6 mins
Review of the week: The Queen’s people
Hundreds of thousands of people queued for hours to pay their respects to the late Queen ahead of her funeral on Monday.
4 mins
Can cloud computing withstand the heat?
With inflation as hot as London in July, the technology sector has been buffeted more than most. But equity analyst Ben Derber explains why cloud computing may prove to be especially resilient.
2 mins
Bye Bye Bojo
As the Conservative Party spends the summer trying to find a new leader our head of multi-asset investments David Coombs looks at the potential impact on economic strategy.
4 mins
Silver linings in the cloud?
Structural, long-term investment themes are particularly important at the moment as investors worry about the short-term outlook for many businesses. Equity analyst Ben Derber argues that cloud computing should enjoy a decade-long spending boom as enterprises seek to harness the benefits of this powerful new technology.
4 mins
Strikes are a warning for all
Strikes are synonymous with railway workers these days, but the reasons behind the latest one affect everyone, argues our multi-asset portfolios lead manager, David Coombs. Wages have stagnated for years, yet higher inflation is now making that untenable.
4 mins
Valuation matters
While the drops in the prices of some of the world’s hottest (and most expensive) stocks are eye-watering, Rathbone Income Fund managers Carl Stick and Alan Dobbie argue there’s a reason for the extent of the falls. They ask: did too many investors simply forget that valuation matters.
4 mins
The high cost of low prices
We’ve all got used to cheap flights, meals and clothes, but it was all predicated on low wages in many sectors, argues David Coombs, our head of multi-asset investments.
4 mins
A significant milestone and a turning point?
As the UK gears up for its first-ever Platinum Jubilee, the Rathbone Ethical Bond Fund is celebrating its own historic milestone. Fund Manager Bryn Jones looks at what might lie ahead as bond markets move into a new cycle and the transition towards a greener, more circular economy gains still more momentum.
4 mins
A difficult balancing act
The UN-backed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were created to balance the economic, environmental and social pillars of sustainability. Yet the recent energy and food crises show just how difficult this can be, notes our sustainable multi-asset investment specialist Rahab Paracha.
5 mins
Notes on a nervous planet
Can our overburdened planet keep supporting all the people on it? Bryn Jones, lead manager of our Ethical Bond Fund, thinks the swelling number of people on earth raises the prospect of big shortages of basic necessities. He explains how this impacts his team’s decisions and offers some hope that bond investors can help make a difference.
5 mins
Zombie financing
Charlton Heston and our head of multi-asset investments David Coombs have little in common. But they both hate the walking dead.
4 mins
The buzz on Anthropocene theory
We’re living in an era in which human activity is radically changing the planet, according to a raft of scientific data. Bryn Jones, lead manager of our Ethical Bond Fund, explains how this influences his team’s long-term decisions.
4 mins
In a world of my own
Bear markets are taking their toll. Our head of multi-asset investments, David Coombs, explains how his team are trying to protect portfolios and prepare for a better future.
4 mins