Investing

A critical part of investing is understanding how different asset classes, markets and sectors are valued. Here, you’ll find out how the Nutmeg investment team approaches valuations and why we think they’re important.

Global markets have been unsettled in recent weeks. Since the start of October, developed stock markets have fallen by 6.6% and emerging markets have lost 8.9% in just 9 trading days. Global bonds have also been suffering, with UK gilts down around 3% since early September. Here’s what we think is behind this volatility, and why we think it’s important to remain focused on your long-term investing goals.

Is the re-emergence of inflation a good or bad thing for investors? When it comes to inflation, the answer always requires a bit of nuance. But as long as labour shortages don’t cause excessive growth in real wages, we think inflation should support our continued exposure to equity markets. 

First, it was equities, now it’s bonds – the Chinese markets are opening up apace. Find out how access to the world’s third largest bond market, hidden behind closed doors for so long, will shake up the global scene for fixed income investors.

Turkey, and in particular decisions made by President Erdogan, have been making the headlines again this week as the lira falls further and there’s talk of boycotting US electrical goods. We take a look at what exactly has been going on in Turkey and whether or not investors should get the jitters.

The interim findings of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) investment platform market study, released on Monday, highlight that punitive exit fees and unclear charges could be limiting competitiveness. We want to see these areas tackled, as no investor should be prevented from moving investments freely or understanding what investing is really costing them.

Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google are known as “FAANG” stocks in the investment world. Changes to the Global Industry Classification Standard, known as GICS, will see some of the FAANG stocks reclassified from 21st September this year. Find out how this, and other changes to the GICS, impact the investment landscape and how Nutmeg portfolios are designed to maintain exposure to the tech sector.

Technology has disrupted the simple global village that once ruled international trade. As it continues to support globalisation, we explain the drivers behind Nutmeg’s investment strategy to seek higher-than-normal exposure to the tech sector.

In June last year, worldwide benchmark provider MSCI reclassified mainland Chinese stocks in a number of its flagship indices. This was a milestone moment in the integration of the world’s second largest equity market into the global financial system.

MiFID II stands for Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II, and it’s a European Union (EU) thing.

The FT reported recently that “stockpickers show signs of turnround after lagging behind markets”, based on data showing that 54% of active funds had outperformed the UK equity market. This represented a ‘turnaround’ from the just 22% which outperformed in 2016. Based on a dataset used by the FT from Standard & Poors, 40.4% outperformed over three years, 45.9% over five years and just 24.8% over 10 years.

Conventional investment wisdom has held that government bonds are a “safe haven” for investors, as it’s unlikely that governments will go bankrupt. However, could recent activity in bond markets forecast stormier times ahead for bond-only portfolios?