Category: Blog
Quarter 3 2021 Investment Review
2021 bucked the usual trend of a quieter summer period for investors. Coming into July the market narrative was centred on a strong economic recovery potentially leading to inflationary pressure. Whilst it seems ironic especially given this week’s supply and demand issues around petrol and household energy prices, the risk…
DB Wood Team
1st October, 2021
Independent insurance broking through “hard” times The insurance market is characterised as either being “soft” or “hard”. In a soft market, we see many insurers keenly competing for market share by easing their underwriting acceptance and offering lower premiums. A hard market sees insurer supply reduce, with those remaining demanding…
DB Wood Team
17th September, 2021
Next Monday, 13th September, marks the date that ‘Standard Life’ will re-brand to become ‘Abrdn’. Don’t worry, we also found ourselves asking, how’s that pronounced? Exactly the same as with the vowels in; ‘Aberdeen’. Its important to reaffirm that Abrdn remain very much the same firm as Standard Life. Long…
DB Wood Team
10th September, 2021
This is turning into a positive quarter for most investment markets. In honesty, whilst there are several variables at play that could change the dynamics (and our returns), the economic fundamentals that we set out as our central case at the start of the year remain very much intact, and…
Alex Chappell
2nd September, 2021
The Advancement of Technology…
I bet you didn’t think you could compare technology to Marmite… Well, chances are, if you asked a random stranger their opinion on either, they’ll either love it or they’ll hate it. Marmite has only been a bugbear to most since 1902, but with technology spanning all the way back…
Georgia Ashley
20th August, 2021
“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks when decades happen” – that was Vladimir Lenin, referring to society staying stable for long periods of time, before shifting quickly and meaningfully, towards a new normal. It’s interesting to think that although last year was…
Alex Chappell
6th August, 2021
Presenting the inflation tug of war, sponsored by COVID…
Markets have been described as a weighing mechanism for future outcomes. They generally reflect the consensus of what people expect to happen, though in reality there are many differentiators on a micro level, so it is necessary to drill down country by country and sector by sector. In…
DB Wood Team
23rd July, 2021
As individuals within the investment team, we are conscious not to believe our own propaganda, ensuring our views are as balanced and logical as they can be. Placing too much emphasis on our own opinion can be dangerous, and after all, none of us have a crystal ball.
Alex Chappell
8th July, 2021
The importance of setting goals…
It all started with me sat on an exercise bike in the summer of 2019. As part of my role here, I was in the middle of coordinating our annual DB Wood Static Bike Ride (if you’re a long-standing client of DB Wood you’ll be familiar with the event…
Georgia Ashley
11th June, 2021
One of my fondest childhood memories was playing chess with my Grandad. I say ‘playing’… it felt like intense mental competition as an energetic 9-year-old, but hindsight would suggest ‘learning’, or being ‘taught a lesson’, are better ways to describe it. Now I’m certainly not talking as a…
Alex Chappell
4th June, 2021