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January was not a kind month for equity investors. The volatility was discerning and uncomfortable. While markets may correct further (nobody knows for sure) it’s very important to realise that market sell-offs are par for the course. In times like t...

For the week ending January 15, 2016 For the first two weeks of the New Year, stocks are down around the world: the S&P Global 1200 Index was down 8.64 per cent; the S&P US 500 was down 8 per cent; whilst the Nasdaq was down 10.36 per cent. Last year...

For most investors, 2015 was an unrewarding year. Total returns on stocks, bonds and commodities ranged from negligible gains to steep losses depending on the asset class and investment style. Overall, last year was a manic-depressive ride as markets...

“Humans don’t want accuracy; they want reassurance. The Nobel laureate and retired Stanford University economist Kenneth Arrow did a tour of duty as a weather forecaster for the US Air Force during World War II. Ordered to evaluate mathematical model...

For the year ending December 31, 2015 No firework celebrations are in order for global equities markets at the end of 2015. The S&P Global Stock Index was down 0.84 per cent on the year whilst the S&P US 500 Index was up a slight 1.37 per cent. In re...

Squeezed investment returns in the ultra-low interest-rate environment will be one of the major operating challenges facing property and casualty (P&C) insurers in the year ahead, according to credit rating agency Fitch. Investment yields in insurers...

The financial services industry in Bermuda had foreign portfolio holdings of more than half-a-trillion dollars last year. At $516 billion, that was up 16 per cent on 2013. While the Island does not feature in the world’s top ten places with the large...

Tomorrow we will get the Federal Reserve’s decision on whether or not they will raise the Fed Funds rate. The market has been stewing over a rate rise for what seems like an eternity. I think they will move and the market seems to agree, with the Fed...

For the week ending December 11, 2015 Intra-day moves in equities markets last week could be characterised as “see-saw” each day, but ending the week decidedly negative. For the five days to December 11, the S&P Global 1200 Index was down 3.42 per ce...

This week the US Federal Reserve looks like it might finally do what is has not done for nine years — raise interest rates. The last time the Fed ticked its benchmark rate higher was in late 2006. In mid-2007, however, America’s central bank did an a...

For the week ending December 4, 2015 The interplay of markets and central bank agendas created volatile moves in all financial assets during the week, both on the upside and downside, as market expectations were not met. On Thursday, Mario Draghi, th...

Week ending November 27, 2015 All eyes are on the Fed so the slew of US economic data that came out last week takes on considerable importance with respect to whether the Fed raises short-term interest rates or not. Third-quarter GDP was revised to...