Economic and market insight
Review of the week
Review of the week: The price of money
Higher inflation is starting to leak into central bankers’ plans for interest rate hikes and ‘tapering’ of QE. Meanwhile, the UK suffers an energy crisis as the COP26 climate summit approaches.
8 mins
Review of the week: Breathing space
The children have returned to classes and the adults seem to be drifting back to the office. The pandemic still looms large though, affecting travel, spending and taxes.
7 mins
Review of the week: Are labour markets working?
Labour markets are struggling to get to grips with new post-pandemic supply and demand dynamics. Meanwhile, tighter scrutiny is increasing tech companies’ costs of doing business.
4 mins
Review of the week: Red dawn
China reminds everyone that communists like to meddle in markets. Meanwhile earnings are booming in the West as the recovery rolls on despite investor nervousness.
6 mins
Review of the week: Reaching for the heavens
Virgin Galactic pushes the frontiers of tourism yet higher with a successful passenger shuttle flight into the mesosphere. Miles below, COVID-19 continues to spread.
5 mins
Review of the week: Celebrations, American style
US markets make new records just in time for Independence Day. While Americans take a day off, it seems a good time to take a look at a tough corner of the UK labour market.
7 mins
Review of the week: Midsummer mojo?
Stock markets have regained their positive momentum, but don’t expect a balmy and tranquil summer ahead.
4 mins
Review of the week: Federal foresight
The US central bank’s nod to the surging American recovery frightened markets last week. These wobbly moments could become a longer-term fixture of the global recovery.
6 mins
Review of the week: Laborious statistics
Jobs are the key to true recovery and the best clue to the path of longer-term inflation. Meanwhile, the great vaccination rolls on.
7 mins
Review of the week: A changing tune
After an austere run for many years, the mood music for global companies seems to have stepped up a beat. Businesses are splashing the cash and investing for a new future.
5 mins
Review of the week: Making a change
Breaking the inertia of old habits can be revitalising. Brits are up for a change and that could spark a regional economic revival.
5 mins
Review of the week: Stuck in inflation fixation?
Inflation concerns aren’t receding despite policymakers’ best efforts. Expect more inflation scares to trigger further stock and bond market volatility.
6 mins
Actions speak louder than tick boxes
Mass reporting on ESG factors could backfire, warns David Coombs, our head of multi-asset investments. Better to have active engagement and a deeper understanding of the companies you invest in.
3 mins
Mixed signals
Equity markets are in a happy mood, climbing through a fog of uncertainty with omens of recession tolling from the bond market. Julian Chillingworth, Rathbones chief investment officer, explains why we think it still makes sense to stay invested, but with vigilance.
3 mins
Thinking for yourself
Don’t let robots blindly guide you, warns David Coombs, our head of multi-asset investments. Algorithms are great investors right up to the point when things change – which is more often than programmers would like.
3 mins
How smart is ’smart beta’?
Should you expect to get what you pay for when it comes to managing your clients’ investments? Julianne Smith poses the question - how smart is ‘smart beta’?
3 mins
Don’t bet the house on it
Rathbones’ head of asset allocation research Ed Smith explains why advisers should encourage their younger clients not to rely on property wealth when it comes to funding their retirements.
4 mins
Staggered
Theresa May has had almost as rough a week as our multi-asset funds assistant manager Will McIntosh-Whyte. Recuperating from a stag party, he wishes Brexit was as simple as his friend’s send-off to married life.
3 mins
Reality cheque required
Ed Smith, our head of asset allocation, looks at the savings shortfall younger generations are likely to face when they reach retirement, and what advisers and their clients can do about it.
3 mins
Beats me
Nothing hurts more than expecting a cheque yet receiving a bill. Unfortunately, this is happening to millions of Americans right now, explains chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth.
4 mins
Don’t blame the young
Ed Smith, our head of asset allocation research, debunks the myth that millennials have themselves to blame for the challenging financial futures they face, and provides a dose of reality for advisers and their clients of all generations to consider.
4 mins
Bad excuses for bad businesses
Almost two hours late and on his third pair of trousers, our head of multi-asset investments, David Coombs, isn’t in the mood for half-baked equivocations by UK company managers.
3 mins
Zoltar Speaks
Strolling round the south coast on a half-term excursion, head of fixed income Bryn Jones’ kids stumble on a bit of advice for politicians wrangling over Brexit.
2 mins
In context
Investors seem to be flitting between fear and optimism in an increasingly erratic manner. Hopes for a soft-touch Federal Reserve seem to be driving most of the optimism, notes chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth.
4 mins