Fourth Quarter | 2020

Looking back on a year beset by the coronavirus pandemic, the market’s performance stands out for its incredible comeback from the virus-induced crash in March. The pandemic has left economies reeling as lockdowns have dealt some businesses a severe blow with uncertain prospects for recovery, and millions of people are still relying on government support to make it through a precarious employment period. Yet despite targeted restrictions that could be in place for months to come and many countries grappling with surging COVID-19 infections, investors propelled global stock markets to record highs in the fourth quarter.

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Fourth Quarter | 2018

After years of generally rising equity markets, 2018 saw broad equity declines with pronounced volatility in the final quarter where markets swung up and down by multiple percentage points on many days. Global equities as measured by the MSCI All-Country World Index dropped 7.8% during the quarter. The main catalysts of the weakness appear to be worries about rising interest rates, trade actions, slowing global economic growth, and the flattening of the U.S. treasury yield curve.

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