Last month was a busy month for global central banks as the US Federal Reserve implemented a 50-basis point rate cut, writes Richard Temperley.

August was an eventful month for investors. Early on, the release of disappointing US economic data, coupled with an interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan, triggered a significant sell-off in global equity markets, writes Richard Temperley.

July saw mixed performance across asset classes with global equities experiencing corrections in some major markets, writes Richard Temperley.

As we enter 2025, we look to maintain perspective and to balance the risks across respective asset classes.

As we enter 2024, we have a broadly balanced asset allocation stance, namely a neutral weighting in equities and a much-increased weighting in bonds. This follows a steady reduction in equity exposure throughout the last quarter of 2023.

As we look forward to 2023, we maintain a preference for equities over other asset classes. The prevailing market consensus is that inflation has now peaked, and that rates will therefore peak by the middle of 2023.