Analysis

US equity markets have been volatile in 2014, but investors have over-reacted to the downside, says Joel Mittelman from the Boston Company Asset Management.

It has been a turbulent couple of months for policy makers in Japan.

The Financial Services Consumer Panel (FSCP) is calling on the regulator to implement "radical, structural reform" of how fund charges are disclosed to investors. But not all are in agreement. Industry figures reveal their view.

Nigel Beidas, co-manager of the Marlborough Extra Income fund, takes a closer look at headwinds and tailwinds for UK companies.

The most recent global economic data suggests a general softening in growth activity - led particularly by Europe.

The gloss has come off the emerging markets' story in the past year or so. Performance has disappointed, and of the BRIC countries, only India appears to be a story investors want to talk about positively.

China will likely ratchet up the stimulus further, and alongside this week's launch of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Connect programme, Chinese equities could speed ahead, explains ETF Securities' Nitesh Shah.

Has the commodity further to fall yet?

Wage inflation has been considered the missing piece in the US economic recovery. But waiting for wage rises before raising rates will be a grave policy error, argues Toby Thompson from Brooks Macdonald Funds.

Investors have punished stocks with even small exposure to Russia, while disregarding political risk closer to home, argues NewSmith's Jean Maigrot. He explains which sectors investors ought to be long and short.