TAM Bites: Gold, the US, and Interest Rates
Gold… at the mercy of dollar strength? Gold prices opened December on a subdued note, slipping to approx. $2,630 an ounce as the U.S. dollar strengthened and market optimism for a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut in December waned. The pullback follows an election period where gold's safe-haven appeal was expected to rise, but instead faltered amid shifting market dynamics. Investors remain cautiously optimistic about gold’s trajectory in 2025, though the strength of its recovery may be less pronounced than previously forecast. Meanwhile, silver also faced some pressures weighed by Trump-era trade policy uncertainties and a robust dollar. However, potential stimulus...
Read the Full ArticleTAM Bites: US tech, China, and the US election
Changing of the guard Markets in Q3 staged a leadership change. Those infamous high-flying US tech stocks started to return negative performance, whilst the stocks of companies unrelated to US tech surged forward. These stocks, whose prices are at a much lower level than that of US tech, were seen as a good relative value investment in Q3. Predominantly, the step change which saw investors moving away from the Artificial Intelligence (AI) hype and into the stocks of real-world companies came off the back of the US cutting interest rates whilst economic growth remained stable, and inflation coming under control....
Read the Full ArticleTAM Bites: UK Equities, the Federal Reserve, and meeting Cathie Wood
Are UK Equities back in vogue? Over the last three months, both the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 UK indices have returned over three times that of the S&P 500 (9.94 and 9.93% vs 2.89%, via FE Analytics). This comes at a time where the UK is bracing for a general election, now just one month away. The polls suggest that Labour have a healthy lead over the incumbent Conservative party. And we await to see whether ex-UKIP leader Nigel Farage announcing he is running as Leader of Reform UK, will dampen the Tories chances further. We hasten to add...
Read the Full ArticleTAM Bites: Outperforming ARC, Investment Opportunity, and UK Equities
Outperforming ARC Our entire range of Active and Enhanced Passive portfolios have outperformed their respective ARC GBP benchmarks over 1 year, 3 years and 5 years. As well as 1, 3, and 6 months to Q1 end. The ARC indices’ portfolios are an amalgamation of 350,000 underlying portfolios from over 120 UK wealth managers. The performance of the cohort is grouped and the average of which has provided an invaluable insight into the performance of the broad wealth management industry, over a full spectrum of risk profiles. Source: FE Analytics. For more information and access to the ARC indices: www.suggestus.com...
Read the Full ArticleTAM Bites: Bull Runs, Emerging Markets, and The PRI
Bull Runs The market has been strong in 2024, following on from the fantastic Christmas rally where many clients saw more gains in November and December than what they might see from an entire year under normal conditions. Whilst this is fantastic news, the prudent investor will always be weary of the market moving too far too fast, as it raises the fear of it moving backwards at the same speed. Interestingly, at present the market doesn’t look too extended. Stocks like the ‘Magnificent 7’ have done extremely well but we see little resembling ‘euphoria’ when you look to most...
Read the Full ArticleTAM Bites: Equity Risk Premium, Sustainability Hub, and the Magnificent 7
The “Equity Risk Premium” is a term many read about but often skim over. It’s essentially the additional return an investor expects to receive from investing into higher risk stocks rather than bonds, which are usually lower risk. Investing in shares has carried a positive risk premium over bonds going back to 2008, which has more than compensated investors willing to take that greater risk if it means greater rewards. However, after the torrid 2022 and the average 2023, the bond market is looking like a high-quality, low-cost, income yielding investment to challenge the crown of investing in stocks. This...
Read the Full ArticleTAM Bites: Markets, Sustainable Investing, and Artificial Intelligence
The end of the calendar year witnessed a strong uptick in financial markets, with both bonds and equities, the main investment components, seeing gains not witnessed all year. This was reflected in all TAM client portfolios with annual gains of 5-8% depending on risk profile. It's not uncommon for financial markets to rise over the festive period, and such rises are affectionately referred to as the "Santa rally". 2023 was no different, and in fact, was the strongest on record, ignoring the present weak state of the global economy. Markets often pre-empt the possibility of better times, so maybe, just...
Read the Full ArticleTAM Bites: Markets, Bonds and COP28
With many market participants believing that central banks around the world are now finished with raising their interest rates, markets are looking forward to 2024 and the prospect of stimulus from interest rate cuts and the possibility of tax incentives as many governments around the world enter election years. TAM remains on the front foot in terms of investing into areas of bonds and equities we see as particularly attractive, such as corporate bonds, UK equities, emerging markets and alternatives, that offer real value right now. Given this, should positivity continue into the new year, we remain poised to capture...
Read the Full ArticleIntroducing TAM Bites!
TAM Bites is the latest addition to our adviser communications, which aims to provide you with regular bites of information relating to key market activity, and a brief insight into TAM’s process and strategy. Just scroll down to read on and enjoy! Property funds (investment in commercial property) have become a cause for concern as many are now set to close. There are several recent examples of major institutions shutting down their property funds, and some others are “gating”, which means slowing or stopping redemptions. The funds are thus illiquid and may cause concern to clients needing cash at any...
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