On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve decided to reduce interest rates by 25bps, the first cut in nine months.

AI was leading the news again last week, but this time none of the Magnificent Seven companies were responsible.

The market’s eyes were fixed on the US non-farm payrolls report last week, which provided an important snapshot of the US labour market ahead of the Fed’s September policy meeting.

Last month, concerns over economic growth and the introduction of new tariffs had a significant impact on global financial markets. In this investment review, we look at how markets performed.

February, the shortest month of the year, felt extended due to the market volatility seen, writes Richard Temperley.

From Trump tariffs to concerns around the technology sector with the emergence of Chinese AI company DeepSeek, investors searched for safety in government bonds and commodities, writes Richard Temperley.

The Zurich Investment Outlook is produced twice yearly by the team at Zurich Investments, based in Dublin, Ireland. This publication provides an in-depth insight into our current thinking and positioning, and expands on the reasons behind our economic views to our clients and customers.

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.