Category: IC Insights

Well, we’ve certainly had quieter starts to the year. In the first month of 2025 we’ve had positively surprising inflation data, an AI breakthrough out of China, and the start of the tariff games. Market volatility has picked up, as the world takes stock of the infamous new US President.

Alex Chappell
7th February, 2025

Market Review When we sat here a year ago writing this update, markets were expecting an imminent recession with the expectation that interest rates would come down quickly to compensate. At the time we didn’t think that the outlook for the UK economy was quite that bad, though we were…

The Investment Committee
10th January, 2025

We always felt that the last quarter of the year would be the trickiest, mainly due to the uncertainty surrounding the US election and UK budget. Whatever you think about the outcomes, the fact that they are now past events, should help the direction of markets. Volatility will remain as…

Alex Chappell
29th November, 2024

Market Review Just like the UK weather, a summer in investing can often be hit and miss. The phrase “sell in May, go away, and come back on St Ledger Day” seems to do the rounds every year in late spring, suggesting Q3 has historically had its challenges. As we…

Alex Chappell
3rd October, 2024

After a brief recess in August our blog schedule now starts back in earnest. Across the next 8 weeks you will receive our quarterly investment update for Q3, our thoughts ahead of the US election, as well as an all-important planning update soon after the budget on 30th October. It’s…

Alex Chappell
6th September, 2024

Market Review Our outlook at the start of Q2 was that inflation would prove stickier than the market anticipated, and interest rates would remain higher for longer. Inflation has tracked down slowly in the Western world, though interest rates have been slow to follow, with just 0.25% being shaved off…

The Investment Committee
11th July, 2024

Question the Committee – Summer 2024 Edition
Firstly, a big thanks to everyone who submitted questions. It has been a couple of years since the last Question the Committee though it is fair to say this is the most engagement we have had of any so far. In part this is probably down to the forthcoming General…

The Investment Committee
14th June, 2024

The phrase “all-time highs” usually comes with some associated caution. It means a certain investment asset has never been higher in price, and therefore feels a little like you are in unchartered territory. “If this is the highest it has ever been, surely it will fall in price soon?” History…

Alex Chappell
31st May, 2024

Since the end of 2022 we have had a positive outlook on investment markets. That was the point of peak fear when inflation had just hit 10% and interest rates were quickly being increased. All markets were struggling to adjust, though we also expected that as those variables came more…

Ashley Brooks
3rd May, 2024

We entered 2024 on the back of a strong last quarter of performance. Inflation all around the world was on a downward trajectory and we felt that the ‘peak’ of interest rates had been reached. Despite the anticipation at the start of 2023 that the global economy would be fighting…

DB Wood Team
5th April, 2024