2022 was an exceptionally difficult year for investment markets with the three main asset classes, equities, bonds and real estate all posting significant declines. For stockmarkets it was the worst year since the financial crisis in 2008, while bonds posted their biggest loss in more than a generation. A range of factors combined in the first half of the year …
BACKGROUND Enhanced transfer values are becoming more prevalent as companies aim to reduce their pension scheme liabilities. Here, we detail the rationale behind the notion of enhanced transfer values and the factors you should consider when reviewing an offer, and how it compares to your defined benefit pension. Low expected returns from investments and increasing annuity prices have resulted in …
Recent Market Movements and Investment Portfolio Strategy Markets have been quite volatile since the end of May with significant weakness across all major asset classes. Unusually, there has been a high level of correlation across asset classes with bonds, equities, commodities and real estate assets all falling. There appears to have been three main factors driving the deterioration in investor …
Equity markets shrugged off concerns following the inconclusive Italian elections in late February and gained strongly to their close on March 14th. However, the bundled bail out of Cyprus was the catalyst for significant weakness in European markets to month end led by peripheral markets and the banking sector. Elsewhere equity markets continued to gain on the back of firmer …
The banking crisis and property crash have provided an extraordinary lesson for Irish investors on some of the most important aspects of investment portfolio theory, particularly with regard to concepts such as counterparty exposure, asset class, sector, currency and geographic diversification and liquidity. Even since the dramatic destruction of wealth visited on Irish investors since 2007, professional advisors and pension …
