Economic and market insight
Review of the week
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
Review of the week: Computer says no
The government started the fourth quarter with the political equivalent of a kitchen-sinking. Best to focus your attention elsewhere, argues chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth, like better-than expected economic data and the potential for monetary stimulus.
5 mins
Review of the week: Time flies
There’s so much going on that it can seem like nothing in isolation makes any difference. That’s not true, argues chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth. Every decision matters.
6 mins
Review of the week: Post-holiday blues
As winter approaches, the news looks glum. Yet we should take heart from our ability to adapt, argues chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth.
7 mins
Review of the week: Balancing act
The infectiousness of COVID-19 means economic growth is often bundled with new cases. Governments, people and businesses have to make hard choices, argues chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth, and the conundrum isn’t going away soon.
6 mins
Review of the week: Otherwise fine
As summer winds down and the pandemic persists, governments are finding it hard to taper their support measures. Chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth is chipper enough, albeit with an umbrella under his arm.
7 mins
Review of the week: White House rescue
Congress failed to seal a benefit extension for unemployed Americans or figure out how to support cash-strapped states as the summer recess looms. It fell to the President to come up with a contested stopgap.
7 mins
Review of the week: Control the message
Corporate results fared well during lockdowns, yet they are still well below pre-pandemic levels. Chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth examines why gold has hit record highs and why ‘riskier’ banks have done better than vanilla ones.
7 mins
Review of the week: Foxes and storks
Investors have piled into gold as the reality of US-China diplomacy starts to resemble Aesop’s fabled fox and stork. Chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth also ponders whether US tech shares are priced for perfection as he looks ahead to some big earnings results this week.
5 mins
FIT FOR LONGER WORKING LIVES?
As the holiday season winds down and we get back to our desks, we may have mixed feelings about recognising that longer lifespans will probably keep us working for longer. Rathbone Income Fund co-manager Carl Stick looks at some of the innovations that might help us stay in fine fettle.
4 mins
Taxes, beaches and bonds
A flurry of new UK government spending raises concerns that Labour will return to its tax and spend habits. Multi-Asset Portfolios Fund Manager David Coombs mulls whether current trends will put interest rate cuts on pause.
3 mins
Guess who’s back?
Former President Donald Trump is the odds-on favourite to win the US election in November, despite the Democrats’ decision to bring on a last-minute substitute. Flashbacks to the bad old days of the pandemic help Multi-Asset Fund Manager David Coombs remember the playbook of dealing with him.
5 mins
Record rotations in stocks and English Euros hopes
Multi-asset fund manager David Coombs channels some empathy for Gareth Southgate, as he looks to put together a portfolio that can achieve optimal performance over the long haul, but may look out of touch during periods when market momentum is against you.
6 mins
Things can only get better for UK equities
Labour will form the next government in the UK. While it may take time, new ideas could help solve the nation’s long-standing lack of investment and help boost the stock market from its doldrums, argues Rathbone Income Fund Manager Alan Dobbie.
4 mins
The end of a long winter for UK stocks?
Could fortunes be turning for British stocks, asks Rathbone UK Opportunities Fund Manager Alexandra Jackson. As the UK prepares to vote in the sunshine, investors seem more optimistic than they’ve been for years.
3 mins
An electric future
You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone – or gets super expensive, notes equity investment specialist Michael Cumberlidge. Demands on our electricity grids are going to grow rapidly in coming years, so we need to invest in them now.
5 mins
Can less be more?
Rathbone Income Fund Manager Carl Stick argues that relentlessly busy bees aren’t always as productive as they seem. Might the answer be to do fewer things better?
4 mins
AI: just what the doctor ordered
Since joining our Multi-Asset Team earlier this year as a fixed income analyst, Sally Hoang has really enjoyed the cross-asset lens that’s used when analysing investments. Combined with her background as a pharmacist, it helps her understand the potential for AI in healthcare.
4 mins
Can sustainable bonds offer shelter from the storm?
Sticky inflation and wild swings in rate-cut expectations have tested investors’ mettle over the last few months. Assistant Rathbone Greenbank Global Sustainable Bond Fund Manager Christie Goncalves explains why she believes sustainable bonds could be one corner of the fixed income market offering welcome resilience.
4 mins
Are govvies as exciting as murder in the Mediterranean?
Government bonds have given investors whiplash as their yields bounce around the place like a psychopath in 1950s Italy. Yet multi-asset portfolios fund manager David Coombs explains why he’s holding on tight.
5 mins
Challenger comebacks
Rathbone UK Opportunities Fund equity analyst Robbie Carr marvels at the speed of an FA Cup comeback. It makes him wonder if UK small and mid-sized companies could soon post a rapid recovery of their own.
2 mins