Omnis May Investor Update – A fortnight ago we noted that, in spite of continuing lockdown measures and a raft of dire economic data, global
stock markets had made a welcome – if partial – recovery from their late-March lows.
Happily, this recovery has since continued almost uninterrupted. Having suffered a fall of historic scale and speed, the US stock market (as measured by the Russell 1000 index) ended April down ‘only’ 10% for the year to date. Remarkably, had you invested in the US stock market at the start of October
2019, the value of that investment would be almost unchanged.
Source: Financial Express Analytics, 1st October 2019 to 30th April 2020, total returns in local currencies.
As the chart makes clear, the UK stock market has been a laggard throughout this period. This serves as a reminder
that, while Covid-19 is at the forefront of all our minds, it is not the only thing we need to keep an eye on. Firstly,
though negotiations have been understandably delayed as politicians focus on the matter at hand, Boris Johnson’s
government has thus far refused to countenance a delay to the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. This increases the risk
of a hard Brexit at the end of the year – an outcome investors have long viewed as negative for UK assets. Secondly,
the UK stock market has a relatively large exposure to the energy sector which has struggled as oil prices have fallen
to multi-year lows.
Please be sure to read the remainder of the Omnis Investor Update which you can do by clicking on the link or photo below.
Omnis-Market-Update-01-05-2020
If you do have any questions surrounding the content of this update or for any other area of your financial planning needs.
Please do not hesitate to contact us – https://vincentthrop.co.uk/contact-us/