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The news this week focused on central bank activity, with the Federal Reverse (Fed) and the Bank of England (BoE) deciding to keep rates on hold. Looking back at the whole hiking cycle, both central banks have now delivered rate increases in a relatively short timeframe to bring their respective rates to over 5%.

Over the summer months, given the more resilient nature of the US economy in the face of a swift hiking cycle, investors have priced in a soft landing for the world’s largest economy.

Over the summer months, given the more resilient nature of the US economy in the face of a swift hiking cycle, investors have priced in a soft landing for the world’s largest economy.

2022 was a volatile year for investors in all asset classes. A major reason for this was the end of a period of extremely loose monetary policy, which has its roots in the response to the Global Financial Crisis of 2008.

This summer, news coverage on China has turned quite negative. Some articles allude towards a potential “Japanification” of China, a term which describes the so-called “lost decades”, when the stock and property bubble of the 1980s led to persistent weak growth and multidecade deflation.

The last several years have been challenging enough for bond investors and this summer is shaping up to be more of the same, despite some hopes earlier this year for a change in fortunes. What factors have been driving this?

Investment decisions are shaped by various philosophies and methodologies known as investment styles. These styles serve as frameworks for investors to select companies that align with their strategies and goals.

The Bank of England’s (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee voted yesterday to increase the Bank Rate by 0.25%, to 5.25%. It was a three-way split decision with two members voting to increase the rate by 0.5% and one member voting to keep the rate unchanged.

The period following the financial crisis is most notably associated with monetary policy tools such as quantitative easing (QE) and negative, or zero, interest rates. It is understandable why these have taken the spotlight given the debates they caused around their legality and their unintended consequences.

The North American equity markets enjoyed a much-awaited uplift in the second quarter of this year, heavily influenced by a select number of (by broader definition) technology stocks.