News in Review

“We’re concerned about inflation in the medium term” Last week the Bank of England (BoE) became the first major central bank to raise interest rates since the onset of the pandemic. At a meeting ending on 16 December, the Bank’s nine-member Monetary Policy Committee voted by an 8-1 majority to raise rates to 0.25%, an […]

Blocking out ‘noise’ for the good of your portfolio

It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed by the endless barrage of negative news or ‘noise’, which can stoke anxiety about the performance of your investments and doubts over whether your investment strategy is on course. Learning to block out this noise, which may influence hasty or erratic investment decisions, is essential. By keeping a record […]

News in Review

‘The global recovery is strong but imbalanced’ Last week saw the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) publish its latest appraisal of world economic prospects. In a relatively upbeat assessment, the Paris-based soothsayer predicted that global growth will hit 5.6% this year before moderating to 4.5% in 2022 and 3.2% in 2023. However, the […]

News in Review

“We need to bolster our protections against this new variant” Following the discovery of the COVID-19 Omicron variant on UK shores, Boris Johnson took to the Downing Street podium on Saturday to announce “temporary and precautionary” measures to contain the spread of the variant. First detected in South Africa last Wednesday and labelled a ‘variant of concern’ […]

News In Review

“If we are serious about going for growth, then 2022 has to be a year of detail and delivery” During a week which saw the government confirm it was cancelling the Leeds leg of the HS2 high-speed rail line, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said more needed to be done to end the North-South […]

News In Review

“For all our disagreements, the world is undeniably heading in the right direction” At a Downing Street news conference on Sunday evening, following the conclusion of the COP26 Summit, Boris Johnson hailed the climate deal as “game-changing”, before adding that it sounds “the death knell for coal power.” Despite a late intervention by India and […]

News in Review

“We think there will be some need to increase interest rates to bring inflation sustainably back to target” Following many hours of discussions, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to retain the Bank of England (BoE) base rate at its record low of 0.1% at its meeting last week. The decision was made despite predictions […]