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
2020: the year ahead. Maybe?
Our head of multi-asset investments, David Coombs, consults the tea leaves as he prepares for a new decade.
2 mins
Boris gets it done
This election result – a vote for Brexit and against socialism – is just as seismic as the referendum, argues head of multi-asset investments David Coombs. But CEOS can’t relax, capitalism has to change to survive.
2 mins
The origins of capitalism: a privilege with a purpose
The idea of responsible capitalism is topical, and its merits widely debated today, but it isn’t a new concept. Taking a look back at the origins of capitalism shows us that it has roots in a social contract with a sense of purpose. With roots like these, there’s great opportunity for advisers to help their clients embrace healthy and responsible capitalism to address today’s urgent challenges.
4 mins
Sleepless in Harwich
Two times a dad, our multi-asset investment specialist Craig Brown is finding it hard to learn old lessons. Like with investments, sometimes it’s painful when you just can’t leave things be…
2 mins
Do turkeys vote for Christmas?
Misinformation is rampant ahead of the UK election, as if things weren’t chaotic enough. Multi-Asset Portfolio Fund manager Will McIntosh-Whyte worries about what plans the politicians may be hiding and how markets will react to the eventual result.
4 mins
What responsible investment looks like
Rathbones’ stewardship director Matt Crossman explains the Principles for Responsible Investing and how we’ve been putting them into practice over the past 10 years.
3 mins
Making a better world, and a profit
Rathbones’ head of asset allocation Edward Smith explains why he believes that responsible capitalism is in every long-term investor’s self-interest – even if they don’t care about the societal benefits.
3 mins
FAANGs for the memory
A jokey present from Christmas past comes back to haunt David Coombs, our head of multi-asset investments. As the nights lengthen, he spooks himself by pondering the meaning of ‘tech’.
3 mins
Be clear, be trustworthy
Brits are on board with investing sustainably to make the world a better place, but impenetrable jargon and complicated processes are preventing them from doing so. We need to try harder to speak their language, says Rathbone Global Sustainability Fund manager David Harrison.
3 mins
Time to buckle up
New threats require new defences. Our head of multi-asset investments David Coombs explains how he’s filling the sandbags to protect his funds against a populist storm.
4 mins
No-deal panic in Purton
As Brexit uncertainty descends into the ridiculous, head of multi-asset investments David Coombs finds himself in the strange position of hoping for a no-deal to bring some clarity.
2 mins
Roadkill II
It can be hard to spot the time flowing by as the days roll into weeks and months into years, laments multi-asset fund manager Will McIntosh-Whyte. And you’d better be careful, he warns, because inflation works just the same way.
3 mins