Economic and market insight
Review of the week
Review of the week: Back to the shops
UK retail sales bounced back after a COVID-crushed Christmas. Yet the longest income squeeze since Sir Robert Peel was Prime Minister is set to intensify in the coming months.
6 mins
Review of the week: War looms
Talks to ward off conflict over Ukraine are failing and a Russian invasion is reportedly imminent. Is it brinkmanship or a real risk?
5 mins
Review of the week: Bank on a tough year
The Bank of England seems poised to raise interest rates aggressively to combat inflation, yet its explanations don’t square with its own forecasts and analysis. Expect fewer hikes than the market currently implies.
7 mins
Review of the week: Tighter money
The years of loose money are coming to an end. That will cause some short-term upheaval in markets, but if economies remain strong stocks should soon bounce back.
7 mins
Review of the week: Getting ahead of the Fed
Bond yields have been climbing almost as much as investors’ worry levels. Pausing to remind ourselves what central bankers are trying to achieve – and how stocks typically react – is helpful.
6 mins
Review of the week: Just like the old days
With COVID cases starting to roll over – in the UK at least – and investors settling down for some old-fashioned Fed watching, everyone is hoping 2022 will be a bit more like pre-pandemic times.
6 mins
Review of the week: A strange and profitable year
Another COVID-blighted year has passed. Yet, for all the turmoil, 2021 was a great one for markets.
5 mins
Review of the week: Christmas at risk
Déjà vu in the UK. With COVID cases mounting once again and restrictions piling up, everyone is wondering whether Christmas will be cancelled once again.
5 mins
Review of the week: Still plenty of punch in the bowl
Market sentiment has been swinging wildly lately, but in this week’s review chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth explains why he thinks the supply of festive spirits won’t run dry.
7 mins
Review of the week: It’s all Greek now
A worrying new strain of COVID-19 has upended confidence in economic recovery, the path of interest rates and potentially the arrival of Father Christmas.
6 mins
Review of the week: COVID season
It’s shaping up to be another winter tarnished by the virus. As if central bankers needed more complexity on top of huge government spending, upended supply chains and confused labour markets.
4 mins
Review of the week: A different climate
The outcome of COP26 has left many people feeling blue about our fight to stop global warming. But that disappointment actually shows how much has changed in a few short years.
6 mins
Bond life
From his kitchen table our head of fixed income Bryn Jones gives his perspective on the bond life, where emergency stimulus has brought signs of life, but credit remains in a critical condition.
3 mins
No fooling this April
The traditional day of jest seems too bizarre to be true this year. Putting jokes to one side, our multi-asset portfolios fund manager Will McIntosh-Whyte explains what he’s doing about income.
4 mins
All hail the awe-zoom tech
With most people in the UK bundled into lockdown, technology has once again proven itself. Our head of multi-asset investments, David Coombs, gives thanks to his team’s saviour.
3 mins
A sustainable stimulus
As Vladimir Lenin said, “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen”. Our stewardship director Matt Crossman tries to grasp what the current pandemic means for the planet and our plans to save it.
3 mins
Working perfectly from home
With markets roiling round the world, the London office has decamped to their ranches on government orders. Rathbone Multi-Asset Portfolios fund manager David Coombs marvels at today’s technology.
3 mins
Sold out
With lots of things getting mispriced in the midst of the coronavirus panic, our chief investment officer Julian Chillingworth extols the virtues of keeping calm and looking beyond the current disruptions.
3 mins
Just paying lip service?
David Harrison, manager of the Rathbone Global Sustainability Fund, having seen first-hand the growing trend of responsible capitalism in America, makes the case for getting up close to see whether companies are really serving all their stakeholders, or just paying lip service.
3 mins
Escaping the ivory towers
The latest ‘tech innovation’ may seem compelling, until you leave the group think echo chambers of London’s ivory towers. Head of multi-asset investments David Coombs considers how looking beyond the M25 can help us see what’s going on in the real world.
3 mins
Valentine’s stay
The novel coronavirus epidemic is threatening thousands of lives as well as the global economy. Multi-asset fund manager Will McIntosh-Whyte explains how the multi-asset portfolio funds are impacted by this humanitarian crisis.
5 mins
Sun, sea and … S&P 500 put options
You should be fixing your roof when the sun is shining, as the saying goes. Our multi-asset investment specialist Craig Brown has been booking his holidays when the rain is pouring. His golden rule: don’t gamble, take the insurance.
3 mins
No bongs but no tears – it could be okay
Big Ben may not be bonging when the UK leaves the EU, but our head of multi-asset investments David Coombs reckons there’s room for some quiet confidence.
3 mins
Johnny-come-Januaries
The new year always drives well-intentioned yet poorly sustained get-fit-quick schemes. That leads multi-asset fund manager Will McIntosh-Whyte to wonder about the durability of subscription service customers in a downturn.
3 mins
