Rishi Sunak delivered his second Budget on 3 March 2021. Here are the main points to digest: Furlough Scheme The furlough scheme and self-employed grants have been extended until the end of September. The furlough scheme currently pays … More
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Markets continued to push higher during the final months of 2020 as positive vaccine trials were announced and investors started to believe that the rollout of vaccinations in 2021 would return the global economy back to something approaching normality. As … More
Markets continued to push higher during the final quarter of 2020 as positive vaccine trials were announced and investors started to believe that the vaccinations in 2021 would return the global economy back to something approaching normality. A global economic … More
The MSCI UK All Cap index returned +5.6% during the three months to the end of November, while the MSCI World ex UK index returned +5.9% in Sterling terms. Initially, the UK stock market performance was held back by … More
The MSCI UK All Cap Net Return index returned +0.5% during the three months to the end of July, whilst the MSCI World ex UK (£) Net Return index returned +8.8% in Sterling terms. Equity markets recovered a significant amount … More
Earlier this year the Government asked the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) to review Capital Gains Tax (CGT) with a view to simplifying the system and addressing any areas where the existing rules can distort taxpayer behaviour. Whilst the Government … More
During the second quarter of the year asset prices rallied strongly following the sharp COVID-19 related declines witnessed during the first quarter. Policy makers have been impressively swift to announce innovative measures to support economies which have experienced a hard … More
Market Commentary – July 2020 The MSCI UK All Cap NR index returned +9.4% during the three months to the end of June, whilst the MSCI World ex UK (£) NR index returned +20.4% in Sterling terms. Equity markets recovered … More
In news that will be welcomed by many, the families of front-line workers are to be exempt from Inheritance Tax (IHT) should they pass away as a result of COVID-19, in what the government calls the ‘blue light exemption’. What … More
The MSCI UK All Cap NR index returned -8.3% during the three months to the end of May, underperforming the MSCI World ex UK (£) NR index materially, which returned +4.9% in Sterling terms. Equity markets fell sharply during the … More
From a macro-economic perspective the news this week was not encouraging as surveys of economic activity across the developed world collapsed to levels not seen before, and oil prices reached new lows for this cycle. Interestingly, investors took these developments … More
Market participants have been greatly reassured by the announcement from the Federal Reserve last week that it would start buying corporate bonds in both the primary and secondary markets, thus providing both funding to corporates and liquidity to credit markets. … More