Over the last month, we’ve seen a lot of positive signs in the markets. Riding a wave of an economic recovery that appears to be taking hold in most of the world’s developed economies, markets have enjoyed further confirmation that the tide is turning.
In this video, our Chief Investment Officer, Richard Flax discusses the key points from April, beginning with the earnings season. Markets have been eagerly awaiting the publishing of performance results from businesses for the first quarter, hoping to see confirmation that macroeconomic data is reflected in profits. In short, it seems that wider trends have been met emphatically by bottom lines, a sign which bodes well for the rest of 2021.
We then go on to look at wider market developments. With all the focus on corporate fundamentals, it’s no surprise that April saw some interesting rotations both within the equity sector and across all asset classes. The recovery is still very much underway, higher cap growth stocks significantly outperformed other sectors and our portfolios have enjoyed a positive month.
Finally, Richard considers the role of central banks over the past month and for the rest of the calendar year. Concerns about inflation have been allayed by some confident rhetoric from the Fed, and it’s not something we consider to be an immediate risk to equities.
Our Q1 performance
Every quarter, our investors receive a full breakdown of the performance of their portfolios and the economic conditions that affected their investments. We break down performance by asset class, examine past and future trends, and explain how both of these factor into our decision making.
In case you missed our report for the first three months of 2021, you can read a summary of the document here. If you’d like more information or want to see an example of the full quarterly report, feel free to get in touch with a member of our investment consultancy team. They’ll be able to talk you through the report and discuss your personal financial options.