Knowledge and Insight - Investment

Stock markets have reacted badly to the worse than expected news on US trade policy. We favour a more conservative asset allocation in response – but it’s possible to be too gloomy.

When it comes to managing wealth, there is a big difference between the concepts of “risk” and “uncertainty”. Risk is deemed to be quantifiable in some way, allowing managers to construct portfolios with the right balance between assets and the right mix within those asset classes. At least then we might have some idea of the potential gains and losses to which clients are exposed.

Olly Cheng, financial planning director at Rathbones Financial Planning and Rob Pullen, tax partner at RSM discuss how the changes to reliefs, allowances and tax rates might be mitigated considering different client scenarios.

Although returns over the past year have been at times hard won, and often made in defiance of a doom and gloom narrative about the state of the world, most investors can look back on some reasonable gains.

Elections challenge investors’ ability to maintain a calm, dispassionate view like nothing else, and no election exemplifies this better than America’s choice for its next President. When you cut through the fog of the emotive and partisan headlines, the broad features of the investing landscape look like they are here to stay as former President Donald Trump takes on Vice President Kamala Harris – both have embraced protectionism and an active government role in directing investment, and are tolerant of taking on more debt. Yet their two parties agree on little beyond these general principals.

Subsiding inflation has allowed interest rates to fall – but are bond markets factoring in too much?

The US presidential election is looking tight. What would a Democrat or Republican victory mean for markets?

The spending restraint pencilled in by the new Chancellor almost certainly won’t happen, and she may find ways within the rules to borrow more. But investors understand the “fiscal fiction” in the current plans and are likely to tolerate some deviation from them.

Rathbones' co-chief investment officer, Edward Smith and head of asset allocation, Oliver Jones discuss the key themes shaping the investment outlook and some of the principles of long-term investing through the lens of UK equities.

A widely expected change of government may bolster UK sentiment, while the US election is on a knife’s edge.

There are plenty of promising companies under the radar aside from the most celebrated names – on both sides of the Atlantic.

As the threat of VAT being added to independent school fees becomes more realistic, we understand that there has been a surge in interest in advanced fee payment schemes. For those independent schools in receipt of funds from such schemes, we look at the options to earn a monetary return on the cash before the associated expenditure falls due.