Skip to main content
  • Wealth management
  • Asset management
  • Wealth management
  • Asset management
  • United Kingdom
  • Jersey
  • USA
  • MyRathbones login
  • Financial Planning login
  • Donor Advised Fund login
Home
  • Who we help
    Who we help

    We help a wide range of clients invest well so that they can focus on what matters

    Who we help
    • Individuals and families

      Focusing on you and your individual goals

    • Financial advisers

      Working with you, for your clients.

    • Charities

      Helping charities invest in line with their mission and values

    • Professional partners

      We work with lawyers, accountants and other professionals.

  • Our services
    Services

    See our wide range of services tailored for your needs

    Our services
    • Investment management

      Looking for someone to create an investment portfolio for you?

    • Greenbank sustainable investing

      Looking for investments that align with your values? See our sustainable investment options

  • About us
    About us

    A top 3 UK wealth manager with roots dating back to 1742

    About us
    • Careers

      Learn more about what it’s like to work at Rathbones, and search our current vacancies

    • Media centre

      Read the latest Group news

    • Our purpose

      Our driving purpose is to help more people invest well, so they can live well

    • Responsible business

      We believe in doing the right thing for our clients and for others too

  • Insights
    Insights

    Read the latest news and market commentary from our specialists

    Insights
    • Investing

      Read about the key investment themes effecting global markets

    • Responsible investing

      Explore our articles, reports and events on Responsible Investment

  • Contacts
    Contacts

    Whether you have a question about our services, or need to talk someone specific, we can help

    Contacts
    • Our offices

      Find your local Rathbones office. We have 21 across the UK and Channel Islands.

    • Our people

      Find the contact details for your Rathbones team by searching our people’s directory.

    • Let's talk

      Our team will be in touch to help you book a no obligation consultation with an adviser.

    • Other contacts

      Need to contact us about something else? Here you'll find all the options

Let's talk

Search

Review of the week: 2022 wrapped up

12 December 2022

We look back at a grim year for financial markets. The rebound in the last few months seems to offer investors some relief, but can we be confident that the worst is over?

Article last updated 20 January 2023.

This year has been very grim: war, sky-high inflation, an energy crisis, a cost-of-living crisis, a stock market correction and increasing fears of recession. Even these latter fears failed to stop surging inflation and interest rates from sending bond yields soaring for much of 2022. We’ve become accustomed to some breakneck market shifts in recent years, yet they pale in comparison with the one we’ve just been through.

Fears that central banks might raise rates too much and strangle the economy drove big sell-offs across most equity markets for much of the year. Stocks rallied during the summer when investors (wrongly) began to expect an imminent pivot away from rate-raising. That rally fizzled out in the late summer, but appetite for stocks revived again in November when US inflation finally started to cool and central banks acknowledged that the pace of rate hikes might start to slow. Nevertheless, investors remain jittery as they look beyond inflation and the level at which rates peak and worry more about how bad the economy could get.

Inflation is in a topping-out process: a wide range of prices, such as freight, gas and other commodity costs, are falling sharply, while others are proving more sticky. And continuing labour supply shortages in the wake of the pandemic are keeping job markets very tight and supporting strong wage growth.

The Catch-22, of course, is that inflation overall is coming down because demand is falling away. To put it another way, we are used to rate hikes occurring because growth is strong. At the moment, growth is weak and getting weaker. This isn’t a classic set-up for strong equity performance. We’ve barely begun to see the impact of lots of monetary policy tightening on economies and companies yet. Earnings downgrades and recession seem likely in 2023. For equity investors, the key question is: to what extent is this priced in?

We worry that consensus forecasts for earnings in 2023 look much too optimistic. They’ve fallen back only slightly, while double-digit declines in earnings forecasts are par for the course during recessions. Hardly surprisingly, it’s rare for equities to perform well when earnings estimates are declining.

Weak growth and weakening earnings may keep equity markets volatile until they find a firmer footing when leading indicators of global economic growth have passed their trough and are about to turn a corner. And that seems unlikely until monetary policymakers have finished tightening and Europe’s energy crisis starts to come to an end. Throughout history, equities have tended to deliver very attractive returns over the long term. Timing stock markets is notoriously difficult, but the declines in prices in 2022 do offer opportunities to invest in good companies at more attractive valuations. We continue to favour high quality companies with defensive characteristics. Companies that score highly on quality attributes are generally those that are more stable and profitable and, as a result, are expected to deliver higher or more predictable investment returns in tougher economic conditions.

China rolls back some COVID restrictions

As 2022 heads towards its finishing line, financial markets still have scope to deliver some surprises. Last week many Asian markets rallied sharply when China relaxed some of its extremely strident COVID-19 restrictions following widespread protests against rolling lockdowns that have been going on for three years now. China is still in a bind though. The reasons for its attempts to avoid widespread COVID infection remain: it has a very large, old population that has been cautious in its uptake of the homegrown Sinopharm vaccine, which is also less efficacious than Western varieties. Reducing restrictions will mean more infections and it’s unclear how the country will be able to deal with the waves without either locking down again or accepting high casualties.

Chinese scientists have developed an mRNA vaccine, but it hasn’t been approved for the mainland. The government has refused to use Western options and it seems unlikely to change course this late in the day. All this suggests that abandoning COVID restrictions completely could be very risky.

China’s severe and repetitious lockdowns and restrictions have imposed big strains on its economy, which is also under pressure from the slow-motion implosion of its property market. Its road to full reopening is likely to prove both gradual and bumpy. 

Thank you for investing with us through this bumpy year and for reading our weekly thoughts. We are taking a festive break and will be picking up the pen once more on 9 January. Happy holidays! As always, if you have any questions or comments, or if there’s anything you would like to see covered here, please get in touch by emailing review@rathbones.com. We’d love to hear from you.

Download pdf

Let's talk

Ready to start a conversation? Please complete our enquiry form, we look forward to speaking with you

Enquire
Rathbones Logo
  • Important Information
    • Modern Slavery Statement
    • Important Information
    • Complaints
    • Accessibility
    • Cookies
    • Update cookie preferences
    • Sitemap
  • Important information 2
    • Financial Services Compensation Scheme
    • Banking services
    • Consumer duty manufacturer request for information
    • Financial Ombudsman Service
    • Interest Rates
    • Keeping you safe
    • ScamSmart
    • Status of our websites
Address

Rathbones Group Plc
30 Gresham Street
London
EC2V 7QN

© 2025 Rathbones Group Plc
Incorporated and registered in England and Wales.
Registered number 01000403

Follow us
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • X
  • Youtube

The value of your investments and the income from them may go down as well as up, and you could get back less than you invested.