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Changes to the Concepts Discretionary Investments (CDI) Socially Responsible Investment range

The last decade has seen an increase in availability of investment funds that aim to meet a social, ethical or sustainable objective. In response to the rapid expansion of the sector, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which regulates financial services companies in the UK, has introduced a series of new measures which will change the way funds, and other products and services making sustainability related claims, can be marketed to investors.

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Why the US election matters

The US election in November is currently too close to call, with the polls showing Kamala Harris and Donald Trump neck and neck. It is likely that polls will remain close until polling day and bearing in mind the fallout from the 2020 election, markets could be more volatile as we head towards the vote on November 5th, and immediately beyond.

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Signs of recovery in commercial property

Commercial property has traditionally played an important role in portfolio diversification. Direct Property funds that invest in UK physical property assets, such as warehouses, office and industrial space, has traditionally found a place in many portfolio strategies, as it tends to produce consistent returns, that show little in the way of correlation with other assets, such as Equities (shares).

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The drawbacks of a passive only investment approach

First available to investors in 1975, a passive investment fund aims to replicate the performance of a specific market index, rather than actively selecting individual assets within a particular market. Over the last decade, passives have grown substantially in popularity, with Morningstar research confirming that passive funds saw higher inflows than active funds during 2023 1.

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Scaling the wall of worry

Recent events in the Middle East have once again led to increased concerns about the impact that World events can exert on global financial markets. In such times, it is important to remain focused on the long-term trend, and to try and avoid taking short-term decisions that could prove detrimental, as history tells us that the initial knee-jerk reaction to global events is often short lived.

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Opportunities in Emerging Markets

We often highlight the importance of diversification in an investment strategy, which includes investing in different geographies. Whilst most will allocate funds to developed market equities, such as those in the UK, developed Europe (e.g. Germany, France, Spain) North America (US and Canada) and developed Asia-Pacific countries (such as Japan and Australia), introducing an allocation to emerging markets can help spread risk further, as returns from these markets do not necessarily correlate with their developed counterparts.

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2024 Market Outlook

As we enter a new year, we highlight some of the key factors that are likely to determine market direction over coming months, and provide our outlook for the main asset classes during 2024.

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Going big in Japan?

For many years, Japan has been considered as “tomorrow’s story”, where there is much promise, but returns disappoint. That is until this year, where the Japanese Equities market has shown considerable strength.

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A brighter outlook for Bonds

After the very difficult conditions for Bond investors seen last year, we are seeing growing evidence that a change in direction is now likely.

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