State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) is focusing part of its fixed income portfolio on global convertible bonds due to expectations of higher interest rates and a stronger equity market over the next 12 months, but fund selectors are only mildly interested in the asset class.
Is Tuesday’s worldwide sell-off a blip or a more serious and long overdue market correction? And how did investors handle the frantic flurry of trading activity?
Since the new year, the cryptocurrency bitcoin has faced extreme volatility, and last week, it suffered further setback. But is this just a temporary blip or could this be the end for bitcoin?
Last week’s highly anticipated release of the FAANG quarterly updates (minus the N) surprisingly ended up being somewhat of a mixed bag, but what can we read from the setbacks and successes of some of the world’s biggest tech giants?
Weighed down by the strength of sterling, investors in UK equities have suffered a tough start to 2018 with both the FTSE 100 and FTSE All-Share indices registering negative returns in January.
The European Central Bank (ECB) has begun to unwind quantitative easing, reducing its bond purchases to €30bn a month from €60bn last year. The situation will be reviewed again at the end of September, with some predicting it will swiftly move to zero.
Until very recently it looked inevitable that the FCA’s IFA register would fall by the wayside, despite opposition from advisers and the industry.
Against the backdrop of a US bond market sell-off in January, a look at the performance of European US government bond funds shows that not a single one has beaten the 10-year treasury note return of 7.25% over the three years to 31 December 2017, according to FE Analytics.
After several tough years, things have been looking more positive for investors in emerging markets over the last couple of years, with the region outperforming its developed market peers in both 2016 and 2017.
The disclosure of transaction charges from fund managers owing to Mifid II has seen portfolio advisers bracing themselves for some potentially tricky discussions with clients.
After a year in which discounts have narrowed, Winterflood Investment Trusts has warned the growth and stability of investments trusts witnessed in 2017 could be at risk if markets see a significant downturn.
While the transaction costs uncovered by Mifid II and spotlighted by the Lang Cat’s analysis on 20 of the most influential UK retail funds have revealed the industry’s lack of transparency, they have also generated more questions without obvious answers.
