We anticipate a world of change and opportunity as we look ahead to the second half of the year
15 min read
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The first half of the year has delivered yet another surprise. As we saw in 2016, election results can be hard to call, and this hasn’t changed in 2017.
The outcome of polls in Holland and France seemed to promise a retreat from political instability in the spring. Then in April the UK government announced a snap general election, and in June the electorate unexpectedly delivered a hung parliament, weakening sterling and knocking confidence in the UK economy. In the meantime, across the Atlantic, President Donald Trump’s failure to put key policies in place threatens to send the so-called ‘Trump trade’ into retreat.
“We will remain steadfast in following our investment principles, focusing on assets that we believe are inexpensive relative to their long-term value”
Staying on course despite the politics
Throughout these events we have kept to our investment principles and seen solid investment performance over the year to date. This has put our portfolios in the top 25% of their peer group over the period.
However, we prefer to be judged on our longer-term returns rather than just the positive moves we’ve seen this year. For that reason, it’s particularly gratifying to see our investment performance doing well over three and five years as well.

Opportunities in a riskier world
As we look ahead we see a stable global economy underpinned by growth in the US that will continue to support equities and other risk assets over bonds. The investment themes we set out at the beginning of the year have performed well, and we continue to see potential for growth in these areas. In the meantime we’ve added emerging market bonds to our portfolios and funds, to benefit from strengthening economies in the developing world.
As ever there are risks on the horizon, but uncertain times bring new opportunities into view. Change is inevitable, and making sure your investments are fit for the future is key to meeting the challenges ahead.
With that in mind, we will be sticking to the regimen that has served us well. Throughout the coming months we will be guided by our investment principles to find attractively priced quality investments with the aim of protecting our clients’ wealth in the long term.
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