David Coombs tried as hard as he could to buy a suit from the high street, but they just weren’t selling. Our multi-asset investments head worries deep-seated problems are behind poor performance from UK retailers.
Whether rolling cheese down a hill, braving the chaos of a Spanish fiesta or investing in the stock market, you should always take precautions, argues Will McIntosh-Whyte, assistant manager of our multi-asset funds.
If deciding to take on the services of a discretionary fund manager (DFM) is a big decision, then scouting out the most suitable firm to partner with is another kettle of fish altogether for many financial advisers.
The Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC) has launched a new guide that highlights the business benefits of sustainability and explains why it is key to the success of higher education institutions.
Apart from some fairly benign congressional hearings, America’s tech giants have faced minimal scrutiny at home. The European Union has been active, though, fining Alphabet €2.4bn in June for misusing the dominance of its Android operating system and now investigating Amazon’s possible misuse of data on sales made by its third-party merchants. What will it take for the US government to take aim at these behemoths?
The burden of regulation hangs heavily over the world of financial services, and with the introduction of yet another swathe of rules under MiFID II in January this year the demands on adviser time is only set to grow greater still.
Ten years on from the nationalisation of virtually the whole UK banking sector, it’s now a much safer place to invest. Banks may not be the racy investments they were pre-crisis, but David Coombs, our head of multi-asset investments, explains why boring may be good when it comes to banks.
Trouble in some emerging markets (EMs) has pushed yields for EM debt in general to attractive levels relative to safer developed market bonds. The crucial question for investors is whether the problems in Argentina and Turkey are localised or could spread to other regions. Investors have been spooked and EM currencies remain under pressure, but have markets over-reacted?
A hefty jump in US Treasury yields seems the most likely reason for October’s abrupt sell-off. But chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth finds it hard to believe the US economy is about to keel over, given recent data, and believes equities – while volatile – should remain the place to be for the foreseeable future.