The members of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) are probably not intimately familiar with Taylor Swift’s back catalogue. If they were, Swift’s hit “Cruel Summer” may have been ringing in their ears when cutting rates today for the first time since March 2020.
Over the last five years, financial markets grappled with two generational upheavals—the Covid pandemic and the subsequent inflation surge post the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
In a move aimed at offering voters a pre-election giveaway, UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt cut national insurance contributions by 2 percentage points in his spring budget. He had previously cut national insurance contributions by 2 percentage points in the autumn budget less than four months ago.
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) vote in favor of keeping the Bank of England (BoE) policy rate at 5.25%.
While the fall in inflation is welcome, the impact of higher interest rates on mortgage borrowers still has some way to play out. The reduction in inflation will help DB members that are drawing on their pension. Pension trustees should consider their investment strategy and support members with their retirement planning.
Today, in a shock decision, the Bank of England (BoE) left its policy rate at 5.25% by the tightest possible majority vote of 5-4. All but one of 65 economists polled by Reuters had predicted that the BoE would raise the rate to 5.5%.
Bank of England raises interest rates again as expected. Rate hike likely to hurt first-time homebuyers in London. UK gilt curve appears to be pricing in a "higher rates for longer" scenario.
UK gilts rally after headline and core inflation numbers surprise to the downside.
The ARCS strategy is a currency management strategy that gives a diversified exposure to three factors: Carry, Value and Trend.
In a hawkish move coming on the heels of data that showed a reacceleration in inflation, the Bank of England raised its key lending rate by 50 basis points at today’s policy meeting.
Predicting spot exchanges is tricky, but there are still ways of adding value in currency markets, including through a disciplined approach we call currency factor investing.
U.S. Treasury bonds are not likely to repeat their spectacular performance as income-producing risk reducers in portfolios of the past four decades. While bonds still have an important role to play in some settings (e.g., liability hedging for retirement plans), we believe investors should look at alternatives for diversification, including inflation-protected securities, gold, defensive currencies and stocks and option protection.
We believe that the Norwegian krone and the New Zealand dollar stand to benefit from how their governments have handled the coronavirus, whereas the appeal of the U.S. dollar may wane due to high infection rates.
With Brexit day finally here, the focus turns to trade negotiations between the UK and the EU.
Once upon a time—of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve—old Ebenezer Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house. Rise from your bed, O Investor and hear first from our very own Ghosts of Investing Past, Present and Yet to Come.
While the election outcome was quickly reflected in the pound exchange rate, the direction from here depends on what kind of relationship Boris Johnson really (really) wants to have with the EU. Find out more from our currency expert.
Currency Strategist Van Luu shows how thoughtful management of currency risks and opportunities may help reach investing objectives, despite the low return environment.
Emerging Markets rebound after post-election "Trump slump," indicating that Trump’s economic policies may benefit some emerging markets countries and assets.
