Investors came into the second quarter feeling like the worst was behind us. Inflation was falling consistently across the globe, interest rates looked close to peaking, and so far, economies were showing no signs of a recession. In most regions that story has continued to play out. US inflation is…
Alex Chappell
6th July, 2023
We can only plan for a life well lived, at least that ought to be the desired outcome. As we all know, the path of life will include successes, failures, mistakes, reflection, growth, challenges, and opportunity. None of us are immune. The perspective applied to our past experience’s doubtless shapes…
Ashley Brooks
30th June, 2023
A Unique 5 Year Period draws to an end….
The word “unprecedented” is banded around way too often in the investment industry. Markets are dynamic and ever-changing, so most market cycles feel different in one way or another. That said, the most recent 5-year period really has been one of the toughest on record for investment assets. It will…
Ashley Brooks
16th June, 2023
Looking at the year so far, our portfolios remain comfortably above benchmarks. At the same time, overall returns have been lower than we expected at this point given the prevailing market challenges. In the first chart we are showing our Low to Medium and Medium Risk Portfolios against their respective…
Alex Chappell
31st May, 2023
DB Wood Money Market Portfolio
Since the turn of the year, we have been working on launching a new portfolio for short to medium term savings. We are delighted to introduce the DB Wood Money Market Portfolio which will officially launch on 1st June 2023. Intrigued…? Let’s explain what this is and why we’ve launched…
Alex Chappell
19th May, 2023
March’s banking system wobbles started to abate in April. It isn’t that the issue is solved yet, but that it looks limited to poorly managed, regional US banks, and as we expected, policymakers quickly stepped in to ensure stability in the system. To counter that we had more challenging inflation…
Alex Chappell
5th May, 2023
DB News Update – just stuff we’ve been working on…
Travel with protection… Someone much wiser than me once said “we travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us”. Those sentiments seem even more relevant post-pandemic, where many of us haven’t yet ventured back to visit other places and cultures. Its not quite as easy as…
Alex Chappell
21st April, 2023
Q1 2023 Market Review 2022 will go down as the worst year for equity and bond markets in 45 years. There have been periods where in isolation, equities or bonds have performed worse, but never at the same time. The re-pricing of all assets for a higher inflation and interest…
DB Wood Team
6th April, 2023
Spring Budget Update – A Push for Productivity
The general expectation coming into this budget was for further tax hikes. After all, the Autumn message was very clear – whilst the Government are being supportive to households via the energy price guarantee, that outlay needs to be paid for, and with the economy slowing towards a likely recession,…
Alex Chappell
17th March, 2023
After a strong January on the back of falling inflation expectations, markets calmed down in February, realising that the path to peak interest rates and lower inflation might not be a straight one. Ironically, what has taken the froth off the January performance has been stronger than expected economic data…
The Planning Team
3rd March, 2023
