No point predicting the future: US election in an unusual year

Planning, not fortune-telling, key to withstanding impact of result

When investors gazed into their crystal balls at the start of 2020, very few anticipated the US Presidential Election would be shunted as far down the priority list as it has been for much of this year. Yet over the past few weeks, all eyes have been focusing in on 3 November.

Polling data has consistently pointed to former vice president Joe Biden as the most likely victor, but with several political surprises still fresh in the memory, some are questioning whether this election race could hold another twist in the tail. As ever, when faced with binary events, our energy is much better spent on assessing the policy implications of different outcomes, rather than trying to predict the future. US Elections: Can stimulus shield markets from 'blue wave' tax tsunami? Below, I outline the five key implications we are focusing on with clients currently.  1....