2022 end of year report

Time to close

The time has come to officially close the office for the year. As usual emails will be checked and if there is anything urgent we will get back to you. We return to the office on the 3rd January. In the meantime we will be dropping into the office to check on any post. We are not expecting much though due to the postal strike.

We have several transfers ongoing between Nucleus and Transact and we oversee regular withdrawals of about £150,000 per month, so obviously the show must go on throughout the Christmas break.

The markets tend to settle down around now, with many stock markets operating on limited hours through to the new year. The markets, yes. That brings me to my next paragraph.

An exceptional year to forget

2022 is heading towards being only the third year in the last 14 years where we haven’t seen a positive return across our portfolios. However it is also now the second year in only the last five where investors haven’t made money. The year isn’t over yet, but even with a late Santa Claus Rally, it seems unlikely that the return for the year in any of the portfolios we manage, will enter positive territory.

There are no excuses to be had. This isn’t a “Well the dog ate my homework” apologies blog. The fact is the economic backdrop is what it is.

For only the 5th time since the year 1900, both shares and fixed interest investments are likely to finish the year on a minus. Exceptional times indeed, but it hasn’t stopped me from searching to find something, anything, that could generate a positive return for us. We are all licking our wounds, and whilst we are in the despondent frame of mind, it isn’t hard finding more bad news to come in the form of the Ghost of Christmas Future. The media loves bad news.

Still we do know that better times always follow the worst of times and there have been a few flickers of brightness from across the Atlantic and amongst the smallest shares we hold. Many clients concur that it could be a long time before “The UK plc” picks up, and most would agree that the recovery will initially take place elsewhere globally. Hence the next re-balance will have a more international bias. I have been trying to organise the next rebalance for 3 weeks now, but with the markets so volatile, up one day and down the next, I have delayed pushing the button for now. Perhaps the Christmas break will provide me with the opportunity, if not, then the start of the new year should.

Merry Christmas

This year has been a sad year for many clients. Some have received diagnosis of a life threatening illness, some have sadly died. Our thoughts go out to you at this time.

All the team here would like to wish you all a Very Happy Christmas and hopefully a Prosperous New Year. I don’t wish to tempt fate, but it is very rare indeed that we receive two poor years in a row. Only on 3 occasions since 1900. Here’s to better times.