The FM Report

This time ten years ago we were aghast at the vehemence of a Global Financial Crisis which threatened a systemic crash of the global banking system, brought down Lehman Brothers and triggered a widespread collapse in the prices of risk assets. Yields on US Investment Grade bonds peaked at just over 8% (4.1% at time […]

Investing is an activity that’s rife with opportunity to fall into bad habits, be led astray or make decisions for the wrong reasons. Being aware of the behavioural traps and temptations that lie in wait for the unwary investor is the first step to avoiding them. The Seven Deadly Sins were formulated in early Christian […]

For much of the period since August 2016, global markets have largely moved in tandem. However, in 2018 they have become more negatively correlated: US markets have continued to rise higher, while much of the rest of the world has dwelt in negative territory. In our view, this scenario is strange given the underlying dynamics […]

September has been the month of memorials and milestones; ten years since the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and, at nearly 3,500 days old, the longest US equity bull market ever. And October marks the longest US interest rate tightening cycle. All of this has focused minds on the cause, timing and nature of the next […]

The impact of climate change has been discussed for some time now. Barely a day goes by without major coverage of it in the press, and it can be difficult to separate the real issues and challenges from headline-making conjecture. Here we provide our view based on recent research, which gives greater detail on the […]

Burdened by too much debt and growing societal frustration, the global economy is faced with stark choices, including fiscal austerity and rising defaults. But what if we took a page out of Henry Ford’s playbook, creating a highly paid, highly trained workforce to help usher in a new era of inclusive growth?

It has been ten years since the crash that shook the foundations of modern capitalism. Like the Great Depression of 1929 before it, the Global Financial Crisis revealed the failings of entire economic and political system and the weaknesses in public finances and monetary policy. The crisis led to an essential review of financial regulation and ultimately became a watershed moment.

Over the last 25 years, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have grown in popularity. But many people are still not exactly sure of what they are, believing they can just buy a Global Equity ETF or a North American ETF. But the reality is, there are thousands of different ETFs to choose from and even two that look the same may be very different.

There is a strong rationale for considering tangible equity when assessing corporate balance sheets. For Western companies, particularly those in the US, the ‘safety net’ of tangible assets has noticeably shrunk in recent years while net debt has increased rapidly; This development carries risks and seems unsustainable.