Kicking the Brexit can all the way to Halloween has done nothing but prolong the uncertainty that’s shrouded us for so long. The ‘good news’ is that we think sterling now looks so undervalued that, no matter what happens with Brexit, it should appreciate over the long term. So, those willing to hold on for a rough ride just may find themselves reaping the rewards when the Brexit puzzle is finally solved.
We’ve always been a nation of shopkeepers and spendthrifts. But how we get our retail fix today is dramatically different to even five years ago, let alone the turn of the millennium
When facts become contested emotion unseats the rule of reason, muses chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth. And emotion is the enemy of compromise.
As society struggled to get back on its feet in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, one thing was clear: society needs the investment industry to be active and responsible. For many, this meant thinking about signing the Stewardship Code, and upping their game on proxy voting and engagement with underlying companies. For us, this created further incentive to refine our existing approach. Since then, responsible investing has become mainstream and over 2,000 asset managers around the world are now signatories to the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI).
As part of the Rathbones Folio Prize programme of events, we are delighted to be sponsoring the Authors XI cricket team during their 2019 season. Rathbones is truly committed to supporting the arts, education and sport. Since 2012, the Authors XI have raised tens of thousands of pounds for charity and will be raising money again this year with matches for The Lord’s Taverners and Afghan Connection, a charity promoting cricket as a unifying force for boys and girls in Afghanistan.
Owing to its size and influence around the world, what happens in the US economy has important implications for financial markets everywhere.
The Donald has ratcheted up tensions in the trade stand-off just when a resolution was so close you could taste it. Our chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth ponders whether investors are right to shrug it off as gamesmanship.
Quality hasn’t just deteriorated in the sterling-denominated corporate bond market, but the lowest-rated BBB segment has also grown substantially as a proportion of the euro and US dollar investment-grade markets, which are both far bigger. If the rate of downgrades in the next recession is similar to the rate in the previous one, the next rung down in the bond markets – high yield debt markets – could get swamped.
American stocks roared back from last year’s setback at a pace rarely seen. Our chief investment officer, Julian Chillingworth, puzzles over the diabolical VIX index and explains why he thinks markets could be getting ahead of themselves.
