April 2018 Investment Review

First Quarter Summary

We end the first quarter of 2018 with all client portfolios lower than their recent peaks. All portfolios ended the 2017/2018 Tax Year up modestly, but certainly without the gains we have recently become accustomed to. Centre stage was a much expected pause for breath, brought about by the looming potential of a global trade war. During a trade war there are no winners, with tit-for-tat actions increasing costs and certainly slowing global growth and many companies profits. Domestically this worry has completely overshadowed the recent encouraging progress that has been made with the UK’s Brexit negotiations.

As the amount we manage within our collective accounts continues to grow ever larger, just a 2-3% dip wipes in excess of £2 million off our joint life-savings. At a time like this we all need to be reminded of how far we have come recently, and that a short term dip should not have any effect on our planned withdrawals and expenditures. Indeed short term dips are healthy and help markets to avoid long-term bubbles. Therefore below are our Model Portfolio charts, showing the steady progress that has been made over the last 5 years, which puts the latest dip in perspective.

Our longer term clients both understand and expect that regular dips will continue to occur along the way. For our newer clients who have had only a few years experience of how we do things around here, I can understand dips must be concerning. Continue reading “April 2018 Investment Review”