At first glance, rising inflation may seem like a relatively simple problem to fix. Central banks, such as the Bank of England and US Federal Reserve, would raise interest rates to curb demand for goods and services. This would, other things being equal, lead to a lower rate of inflation.

We’ve reached the end of what has been an incredibly quick business cycle. Are there only negative surprises to come?
Growth has recovered, and it’s strong. Inflation is at a 20-year high. We are now at the peak of the business cycle. Is it all downhill from here?

This was a quiet week with US markets closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving. However, news broke overnight about a new Covid-19 variant. This led to a sell-off in markets as investors consider the potential new travel restrictions and lockdowns. This is a reminder that life will take time to get back to normal and indeed that normal may have evolved.

the FATF has made “the initial determination that Mauritius has substantially completed its Action Plan and warrants an on-site assessment to verify that the implementation of Mauritius’s AML/CFT reforms has begun and is being sustained, and that the necessary political commitment remains in place to sustain implementation in the future.”

It has been a very strong start to the year and investors should be pleased with the performance they have enjoyed but equally should not get carried away and must remember to think with a long term mindset as a setback in the second half of the year is at least possible.

The 2015 Paris Agreement laid plans to restrict global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2100. But we’re moving too slowly; scientists think warming in the 2–4 degree range is now more probable.

South Africa’s largest insurer Sanlam Ltd has sold its UK wealth division (Sanlam Wealth) to funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. (“Oaktree”), for a total consideration of £140 million. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.

London’s rental market is back with a vengeance dismantling doubts that the pandemic might kill off the London property market. Rental values rose month-on-month for the first time since the pandemic, as the steep declines experience over the past 17 months begin to decline.

The investment bubbles in this article demonstrate that if something looks too good to be true, then it probably is. Bitcoin, for example, has seen tremendous highs and lows. That’s why we take a pragmatic approach, diversifying and creating portfolios designed to rise with the market but also to be resilient if the market falls.