As the evenings close in and leaves start to fall, it’s time to take brief look at the past and future months.
Most surprising is how little financial markets and the world situation has changed over the past few months.
The media has been full of stories of political infighting, stalling Brexit negotiations and certain world leaders attempting to outdo each other in posturing and false propaganda.
Despite all these recognized risks, the wider economy, both at home and overseas, has settled down. GDP figures have shown growth, and stock markets have continued their steady run.
The UK’s main index, the FTSE 100, recently had a slight wobble when exchange rates changed and Sterling strengthened against most currencies.
This improvement in exchange rates has been driven by the economic data and, in part, due to the announcement by the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, that they foresee a slight interest rate rise in the future.
Thankfully, the wobble was short lived and the main UK indices reasserted themselves. This is largely due to Mark Carney’s announcements not being unexpected, but also due to the strong position many UK companies are still seen as being in.
Given the record of the previous months we do not see substantial changes ahead in the short-term.
It seems unlikely that Brexit negotiations will resolve themselves in the next few months, nor do we anticipate many surprise changes in the upcoming budget.
That said, it is important to be vigilant and we will continue to look out for risks to our clients’ portfolios. Equally, we will watch for any announcements by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Phillip Hammond, in the run up to the budget announcement.
As with previous market updates, we remain focused on diversity. With most clients, we continue to build portfolio’s including all sorts of asset types within investments including equities, property, fixed interest, absolute return funds, and, most recently, infrastructure funds.
Long term we are confident clients will see real growth in the portfolio’s. Similarly, clients taking natural income should see their regular withdrawals continue in a sustainable manner.
As always, Platinum is happy to discuss matters with clients. Whether it is a review driven by concerns in financial markets, a change in legislation or simply an alteration in your situation or priorities, please contact us.