The Russian economy not surprisingly contracted by 1.9% in Q1 because of low oil prices, weaker domestic spending and the heavy trade sanctions imposed from the West. The ECG expects Russia to contract by 4.5% this year and by 1.8%…
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The Mumbai Sensex Index hit 29681 to reach an all-time high at the end of January but has since given up some of these gains. As at writing it stands at 26768, a 10% decline, but still up on the…
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Latin American markets have come under pressure due to concerns over the timing of US interest rate rises, a rising US$ value, and disappointing economic data from Brazil. Weakness in the Brazilian equity market was accentuated by a sharp drop…
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The fortunes of the BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are diverging. Slower growth in China appears to be both planned and inevitable. As the economy decelerated further, interest rate cuts look likely. According to the IMF and OECD,…
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‘Falling income automatically raises questions over debt repayment’ Emerging markets (EM) have been going through a general slowdown over the past 12 months. A falling income stream automatically raises questions over debt repayment. The growth in emerging markets post economic crisis…
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Our last Investment Outlook Report in December 2014 was cautiously optimistic about global growth. We felt that if Mario Draghi could press on with a European QE programme, opportunities within Europe would develop aided by falling oil prices and low…
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We have launched a new Balanced High Income Portfolio. This is in response to a growing requirement for higher income producing investments. The new pension freedoms are leading to more retirement income coming from pension drawdown plans and from general…
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Mario Draghi, the ECB President, must be very pleased with the early results of his QE programme. He has confirmed, irrespective of the initial impact, the ECB bond buying programme will be implemented in full. This will mean a €1.1tn…
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Interest rates in the Eurozone have reached extraordinary low levels. The highly unusual phenomenon of negative bond yields is now common. For example, the 5 year German bunds have been offering a coupon rate below zero. This situation is intensifying…
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