Markets continued their year-long upward trajectory in the final quarter of 2017. Synchronized growth in advanced economies, strong corporate earnings, and positive sentiment contributed to a quarter of stellar performance in most global asset markets.
Read moreMonetary policy “normalization” returned as a major theme this quarter. As indicators for the global economy continued to show signs of strength, central bankers in many major economies—e.g., U.S., Canada, China and Europe—have signaled that the end of a very loose monetary era is nigh. Markets may be facing an important inflection point.
Read moreInvestment headlines in the second quarter of 2017 were once again full of politics, with developments in Europe, the U.K. and the U.S. dominating discussion. One might say the quarter was not so good for the populists: Trump found himself embroiled in scandal, British Prime Minister Theresa May managed to lose her conservative party’s majority by calling a snap election, and Marine Le Pen was soundly defeated in France’s Presidential contest by Emmanuel Macron. Political uncertainty notwithstanding, it was a solid quarter overall for investment performance: most major equity and bond markets posted positive returns.
Read moreThe themes that emerged in the fourth quarter of 2016 carried through to the first quarter of 2017. Confidence in the outlook for global economic growth continued to take hold, moving equity markets broadly higher. European and Emerging Markets were the leaders while the U.S. market achieved new all-time highs. Bond yields rose for most of the last three months, with 10-year Treasuries rising to as much as 2.6%, before falling largely in line with the levels achieved by the end of 2016.
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