fund manager views

With the European Central Bank set to stop new quantitative easing at the end of 2018 and market chatter about an interest rate increase in 2019, have prospects for the spluttering European economy and financial markets taken a turn for the worse?

UK equities continue to be buffeted by the Brexit debate, with this coming on top of a global risk-off trade sparked by rising rates in the US, the US-China trade war and other idiosyncratic events.

The challenges facing the UK economy are clear. Brexit uncertainty is affecting business and consumer confidence, while also contributing to a difficult political backdrop.

Markets have been far more volatile this year than last, taking fright at trade wars, the Italian budget, and the rout of the Turkish lira, for example. Yet most of the volatility has been in equity markets, while corporate bonds have provided a relatively...

Emerging markets have endured a turbulent few months, with a sell-off in a string of economies stretching from Latin America to Asia sparking fears of global contagion.

For investors in US equities, October was a painful month. But at least we did not suffer alone - it was a brutal month for almost every asset class. Amid fear and panic selling, only gold posted a meaningfully positive return.

The European economy has proved a major disappointment this year. Investors started 2018 full of optimism.

I cannot count the times I have burnt my fingers investing in oil stocks in the last ten years. Ever since oil started its decline from $150/bbl to less than $30/bbl and back to $75/bbl, there have been multiple tactical rallies that disappeared as fast...

Recently published research from Credit Suisse concluded family-owned companies provide superior growth and returns. As managers of the British Empire Trust, which has over a third of its NAV invested in family-backed holding companies across Europe,...

It has been a difficult year for global equities, with volatility caused by factors such as concern about trade wars leaving many of the world's stock markets in retreat.