Economic and market insight
Review of the week
Review of the week: Sprouts of spring
Flowers, hopes and yields are rising as spring approaches. Still, the UK government is only very cautiously reopening as vaccinations continue apace.
7 mins
Review of the week: Profits are back
Company profits are bouncing back earlier than expected. How quickly will our economies come back to life once vaccinations are finished? And how different will they be?
5 mins
Review of the week: Ghosts of the past
Are we due a re-run of the Roaring Twenties? And if so, what does that mean? A look back at the world’s last post-pandemic recovery and a bit more besides.
8 mins
Review of the week: Like birds in the sky
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. The GameStop upheaval on Wall Street is part of the ongoing democratisation of finance. Ignore its effects at your peril.
7 mins
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
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