Rathbones' Thomson: This will be the shortest recession of our lives

'Crisis phase' now behind us

The “stockmarket crisis phase is behind us” now and we are firmly in a “choppy recovery phase”, according to Rathbones’ James Thomson, who said the coronavirus-induced crisis will likely be “one of the biggest recessions of our lifetimes – and also the shortest”.

The manager, who has headed up the £2.8bn Rathbones Global Opportunities fund since its launch in 2003, said the reduction in volatility in e-mini S&P futures shows that "the purest desire to derisk assets" in March has now subsided. "We hit a peak in March because, frankly, people were scared. Some of the greatest minds in the investment industry were telling us all, even on the 6th or 7th of March, not to buy the dip," the manager said. "These comments came out days before the v-shaped rebound and, sadly, a lot of investors had sold out of equities. Almost a third of clients over th...