Blog

With global stock markets in an apparently never-ending state of high volatility even some seasoned investors are beginning to wonder whether it’s worth continuing to invest in shares. Certainly people looking to invest new money long term are asking us whether now is the right time to invest.

In order to test the theory that a Balanced Portfolio of investments should perform better than cash over the long term, we have compared the returns over ten years from a simulated ‘Balanced Portfolio’ (with 60% in shares and property, 40% in bonds) against returns from cash. Looking at past returns cannot predict the future, but it can give us an indication of the likely characteristics of future returns. Read more →

The current renewed volatility in financial markets is reviving unwelcome feelings among many investors—feelings of anxiety, fear and a sense of powerlessness. These are completely natural responses. Acting on those emotions, though, can end up doing us more harm than good. Read more →

The anxiety that we all feel watching the terrible events unfold in Japan is being reflected in global financial markets. While nothing compares to the human suffering the earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear emergency have created, the economic and investment impacts are nonetheless significant. In response to questions asked by some of our clients, we have posed a number of questions to Dimensional Fund Advisors, the fund manager that manages the Asia Pacific element of our clients’ portfolios. Providing a perspective of Dimensional’s approach at these times are head of international portfolio management Graham Lennon and head of Asia Pacific trading Jason Lapping. Read more →