This optimism was rather short lived, however, as oil’s rout continued on Tuesday and Wednesday, driven in particular by a very downbeat oil market review from the influential International Energy Agency, and poor numbers from Shell. All of which prompted us to ask two questions: It is time to run for the hills or be brave? and Is oil facing a final washout?
By the end of the week, a much more sanguine mood seemed to be dominating. Bank of England governor Mark Carney allayed any worries of an imminent rate hike in the UK on Wednesday to set the ball rolling. But, the major lift came when ECB governor Mario Draghi started speaking on Thursday.
And, it was all helped by the sheer volume of cool headed commentary, from the likes of M&G’s Richard Woolnough, dampening worries that the ‘big R’ was about to reassert itself.
Leaving aside oil and ECB policy however, the biggest story of the week was, of course, the announcement of the winners of the ninth annual Portfolio Adviser Fund Manager Awards. Which, I would think was another reason for the uptick in sentiment toward the end of the week.
Aviva and Rathbones said they planned to promote from within, after it was announced that David Lis was to retire from Aviva Investors in March and Rathbones CIO, Julian Chillingworth was to step back from fund management to focus full time on the CIO role.
Other stories we liked
Given the downbeat end to last week it was understandable that Geoff Candy’s analysis of the reasons to be fearful provided by Societe Generale’s Albert Edwards and Nevsky’s decision to stop its hedge fund proved popular.
Equally, by the end of the week, a gallery of eight graphs to calm the nerves struck a chord.
Geoff Candy’s profile of Black UK Income manager Mark Wharrier and the big plans he has for the franchise did well, as did Gary Shepherd’s excellent piece on why it is likely to be another tough year for value investors.
The Treasury Select Committee had a busy week, grilling industry trade bodies on the pros and cons of Brexit on Tuesday and the FCA on a range of issues from independence to communication ability on Wednesday.
Products
Church House announced the launch of a model portfolio service, while FE released its newly rebalanced crown ratings, which show a clear trend toward cautious funds and Invesco rolled out a UK residential property fund.
