Thought Series

What a volatile year this is turning out to be. Investors across the major financial asset classes: fixed income, equities and commodities have their work cut out. On the macro front, a lack of consensus on the nature of inflation i.e. transitionary or structural has participants guessing the timing of...

The second quarter has been an extraordinary quarter for global equities - fuelled by low interest rates and continued quantitative easing across the US and Europe and the world learning to live with Covid. Central banks revisited acceptable inflation numbers and signalled their comfort with a higher benchmark. Investors are...

2021: First Quarter Wrap Our 2020 Last Quarter wrap suggested a mantra for 2021: “don’t chase the market - let it come to you”. The volatility experienced by investors in the first quarter of 2021 gave plenty of heartburn, but also great investment opportunities for those who patiently bought at dips....

2020 has come to a close. To all our readers we hope you have crossed it without any long-lasting scars. While we begin 2021 with renewed optimism hoping 2021 puts the pandemic behind us, there is also a need for abundant caution. Ballooning budget deficits, inflationary pressures and market corrections...

Starting with the U.S.: Low interest rates for the next 2-3 years. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) in its meeting in September signalled that the Fed will keep key interest rates near zero through 2023 – an addition of one more year to the previous guidance. The Fed will...

Starting with the U.S.: The Fed wants to (and is) keeping control… The last quarter was all about the Fed QE program, targeted to soften the impact of economic disruptions and to ensure US business would have sufficient liquidity. Closer to the end of the quarter the results started coming...

Starting with the U.S.: A recession is on the cards… It is amazing how quickly the outlook has changed – the global economy is struggling and central banks are doing all they can to soften the landing. In times when the whole world is impacted, economies with a strong (pre-event)...